The Ivory King
Rarity silently waited for Edric to come to a decision regarding what they were going to do next, as while she believed that they could tackle the Ivory King, and whatever tricks he had in store for them, she also knew that they could spend a few more minutes exploring the fortress and see if they could find any other knights that would be willing to help them. She guessed that some of the power might be going to her head, since she used to do everything in her power to weaken a powerful creature before fighting it, but she was very confident in her abilities. This was the first time she had ever felt this way, in regards to her magical power, but it was an interesting experience to be confident in something besides dress making, especially since using magic was what Twilight specialized in. She was also sure that Twilight, and some of the other ponies that studied magic, would be interested in the spellbook she was carrying with her and the spells that she had discovered, but she knew that time would tell.
"I've come to a decision," Edric said, though instead of heading back to where the path to the Ivory King was located, like Rarity thought he would, he tapped the bonfire for a moment and turned towards Rarity for a moment, "I'd like to explore the area for a few more minutes and see if we can't find anything useful... and then, regardless of what we find, we'll come back here and tackle the Ivory King."
"As you wish." Rarity replied, as she guessed that, while Edric might have some faith in her abilities, he'd rather ensure they defeated the Ivory King the first time around and not get killed in the process, to which they gathered around the bonfire and picked their next destination.
The duo returned to the very first bonfire they discovered in Eleum Loyce and approached the main entrance that they had walked through earlier, which was now free of the ice that had been hanging on the fortress wall, before they turned to the right and followed the first steps they took when they entered this area. As they fought the knights that they had encountered the first time, and defeated them in the same manner as they did before, Rarity stopped when she found the area that the coffins had been blocking. At the end of the passage she discovered an iron chest that she opened the moment she found it, where she smiled when she found the Soul Flash spell, which she bound to the tome while Edric climbed up the stairs and explored the small area that was above them. When he returned Rarity discovered that her friend had found a set of armor up there and had claimed it, though since he was more interested in the armor he was currently wearing he decided not to use the new one.
Along the way the duo discovered that the mage enemies, which had been kneeling the entire time while the ice was around, were now aggressive and Rarity dealt with them before they could become a real threat to their exploration, which allowed Edric to deal with the knights that charged at them.
It took them a few minutes to make their way back to where the fountain was located, and clear all the enemies in the surrounding area, though as the last foe fell the duo spotted a building on the side of the ruined bridge that hadn't been there before, meaning that it had been hidden by the storm that was no longer raging. Rarity guessed that the storm had been called to this area by the lady that had asked them to free the Ivory King, though they walked into the new building and stepped onto the lift that was in front of them. They waited for a few moments before the lift reached the other area that it was connected to, where they walked out and found a trio of small rat-like creatures, with icicles growing out of their backs, tearing into the corpse in front of them. When the duo stepped forward the ice rats turned towards them and engaged them immediately, by rolling towards Rarity and Edric, who dodged the incoming attack and attacked them when they stopped rolling.
What Rarity discovered was that Edric could cut one of them down in a single attack, revealing that they were weak to his attacks, and her spells did quite some damage as well, allowing the two of them to take out the ice rats before they could even hurt them.
From there they walked through the small tunnel to the left of the lift and carefully headed through the area that they found themselves in, where they used the same method to take out the ice rats that were in front of them, though as that happened Rarity felt another dark spirit invade their world. At this point she was sure that the ability to sense that they were being invaded came from the Darklurker, as a lot of her abilities did, but since she couldn't pinpoint where the invader was located they simply moved on and continued exploring the area. As they moved forward Rarity spotted a mage that looked like one that she fought in the Dark Chasm, though she remembered the weakness of this creature and hurled a Lightning Spear at it, destroying it instantly due to the power inside her attack. It was at that point that the invader made itself known, as it appeared to be a hexer type mage and hurled a Dark Hail at them, but Rarity held her hand out and stopped the attack in it's tracks... before she empowered them and blasted the hexer backwards, surprising Edric in the process.
Instead of allowing the hexer to gain an advantage over the duo, since it was already outnumbered, Edric charged at their opponent and occupied it's attention, avoiding spells and tearing through it's defenses with his sword, while at the same time Rarity used her own spells to break their opponent... before the two of them toppled the hexer and banished the invader back to whatever world it came from.
As Edric continued fighting off the ice rats that stood between them and the large gate that he was heading towards, which had to be important, Rarity turned towards the two spirit like mages that were in the areas above them and hurled a pair of Lightning Spears into the air, destroying her targets within seconds. Since the gate couldn't be opened, and the door that was on their level was locked from the other side, the duo climbed up the nearby ladder and ascended to the level above them, where Edric opened the iron chest they found and pulled out three Boltstones. From there they explored the upper area and found two buildings they could enter, though they ignored one of them in favor for activating the bonfire they discovered. After that they returned to the first building, since they couldn't go anywhere in the second one, and started walking up the wooden stairs that they found, though at the top they found a white spirit waiting for them... who waved at them and proceeded to act like a normal helper spirit would, but Rarity, knowing that they hadn't seen any signs and hadn't called anyone to help them, knew something fishy was going on.
Instead of actually taking chances with the 'white' spirit, and potentially hurting themselves in the process, Rarity summoned the darkness and grabbed onto the spirit, before pulling it down to the level below them and threw it outside, where she held it in the air and used a single Forbidden Sun to obliterate it... though as she did that Edric found the lever to open the gate, as it opened not a few seconds after the spirit's death.
Once the duo was back together they walked through the open gate and followed it into a cave with a few crystals growing near the ground, though when the two of them reached the lowest level of that area they found a white version of the Covetous Demon waiting for them. Edric ran by the icy Covetous Demon and left Rarity to fight it, since she recalled it's weakness from when they fought it the first time, while he searched for anything useful or a new path for them to take, which was something Rarity was fine with. The icy Covetous Demon turned towards her and started pulling itself to where she was standing, though instead of allowing it to get close Rarity held her hand into the air and called three Forbidden Suns into existence, before merging them into a single sphere. As she did so, however, she realized that maybe she might as well start naming these merged spells she was thinking of creating, as she had done one against the Brume Knight when she learned that she could merge to elements together, to which she decided on Forbidden Nova as the name for the base combination attack... to which she hurled it into the icy Covetous Demon and obliterated it.
The moment the flames disappeared, and she collected the ivory ring that the demon had in it's belly, she headed over to where Edric went and found some dead ice rats along the way, before she spotted her companion standing beside a door that lead out to the area they had been in earlier. With the shortcut back to the bonfire open the duo retraced their steps through the cave and walked up the other path that Edric had ignored, which eventually brought them to an area with some golems and some ice rats. Once they knew what they were up against the duo purposely pulled the ice rats away from where the various golems were resting and killed them, preventing their souls from being gathered to awaken the golems from their slumber. The instant that was taken care of Edric and Rarity then dismantled the golems for a few minutes, just to be sure that someone didn't activate them, while at the same time dealing with the few that had been activated before their arrival.
At the end of the path they found a lockstone resting near a building that contained a lift, to which they collected the lockstone and let the lift take them up to the level it was supposed to take them to, which happened to be the other side of the wrecked bridge. Instead of wasting time on the three warriors to their left, since they were guarding the broken section of the entire wrecked bridge, the duo climbed the hill behind them and headed for the building at the very top, to which they fought their way through several more warriors and a few more ice rats before they could even reach the building that they were heading towards. Along the way Edric and Rarity found a decent sized snowball, roughly the size of their heads, and simply pushed it forwards, where it rolled down the path that was in front of it and expanded into a large boulder shaped snowball, one that smashed into the trio of warriors and flattened them before coming to a stop between the two sections of the wrecked bridge, forming a path back to the beginning area.
"I wasn't expecting that to happen." Edric said, as he was surprised that it had even happened in the first place, though he guessed that such a thing would make their lives somewhat easier in the future.
"Neither was I." Rarity replied, though as she spoke she headed up the stairs that were behind them and headed towards the iron door that was closed at the moment, to which Edric joined her after realizing that she had started moving without saying anything else.
It didn't take them long to open the iron door that was in front of them, as it didn't need a lever to be pulled, though what they found inside the small room was another ivory knight, like the one Rarity had seen by the four chairs that surrounded the passage to the Old Chaos... to which the knight looked up at them and pulled itself from it's chair, before kneeling and disappearing a few seconds later.
Rarity, having an idea where a second knight might be located, headed back out to the fortress and made her way back to the one area where she and Edric could see the shrine that they had appeared next to when they first arrived in this area, though that did require her and Edric to cut their way through the knights and mages that stood in their way. It didn't take them long to retrace their steps to that exact location, though when they arrived Rarity headed to the right and they climbed the circular staircase up to where a large chunk of ice had been blocking part of the upper walkway, which now revealed a set of stairs heading downwards. Edric engaged the warrior that was guarding the stairs, though it was quickly finished off as he parried the attack and drove his sword into his opponent's chest, allowing the two of them to follow the stairs down and around to a new part of the fortress they hadn't been in yet. That area happened to be guarded by four warriors, so while Edric cut them down Rarity used some screaming spheres on the ones near the back, to which the duo eliminated their enemies before entering a room with two paths... one heading up and the other heading down.
As it turned out the one heading upwards allowed them to open a shortcut, since it was a door that connected to the path they had followed to get to this area in the first place, before they headed even deeper into the new area, where the two of them fought some warriors and hounds before they reached the lowest level of the area. At the very end of that area they found a small tunnel that brought them to one of the wall's exteriors again, only this time around it was on the inside and they had a good view of an identical building to the one they found the first ivory knight inside. They walked around the path that was in front of them, ignoring the lift for a few seconds, before they started to walk over the walkway that separated them from their target. At the same time Rarity felt another dark spirit invade their world, who actually appeared between them and the building, but since it was a witch this time around, based on the armor she was wearing, Rarity stepped forward to do battle... while at the same time letting Edric pass by the witch so he could take out the warrior that was guarding the iron door they would need to open soon enough.
As it turned out the witch had three favorite spells that she liked to use, the Crystal Soul Spear, the Heavy Homing Soul Arrow, and the Dark Hail spells, which Rarity found to be interesting to some degree, but thanks to the power she had gained she could dodge the spells before they even touched her and slammed a Forbidden Sun into the witch's chest... knocking her over the edge and banishing her back to her own world. From there she approached Edric and watched as he finished off the warrior that was guarding the door, where the duo smiled as they found a second ivory knight resting inside the room that they had been looking for, before he vanished as well. This time around, instead of hunting for the fourth and final ivory knight, since there were four chairs, Rarity suggested that they had enough help and Edric decided to agree with her... to which they used the feather that the Emerald Herald gave them and returned to the last bonfire that they used, before teleporting over to the cathedral and took a moment to rest.
When they returned to where the path to the Old Chaos was located Rarity was pleased to see that she was right about something else, as there were three ivory knights in attendance, more than enough for what they needed to do, to which she and Edric walked through the fog door... and descended into the gaping hole in front of them, where they were accompanied by the knights that had gathered around the hole.
The moment they safely landed on the floor that was their destination, no doubt thanks to the lady that was asking them for aid, they discovered that the area they were in was definitely full of fire and potentially lava, as well as the fact that it appeared that they might actually be below a corrupted tree based on the charred roots that were in the ceiling above them. As they stood up the three knights that had jumped after them landed around them, indicating that they were ready for battle, though at the same time both Rarity and Edric noticed some portal like structures that had charred ivory knights walking out of them. That was followed by their group engaging the charred warriors, where the duo made sure to avoid the attacks that were coming their direction while punishing their foes at the same time, though that meant Edric was fighting them head on while Rarity hurled Lightning Spears at whoever was alone so she didn't hurt an ally. An interesting fact was that the third knight, the second on they released, was a mage as well, as he was throwing Soul Spears at his targets and dealt damage to them while the rest of the group did the same thing.
It wasn't long before one of their allies, no longer being attacked by the charred knights, surrounded himself in ice energy and pretty much hurled himself into the first portal on the left, surrounding the entire structure in enchanted ice and blocked off enemy reinforcements from that one. Even with one less knight to assist them they made due with the remaining two, as Edric and the warrior knight dealt with the charred knights directly while Rarity and the mage knight destroyed them from afar. Soon enough Edric's companion sacrificed himself and sealed off the second portal, once more depriving their foes of any additional forces, until the third and final knight sealed off the final portal, leaving the duo to finish off the last of their enemies before they looked around for the Ivory King, who hadn't made an appearance yet. That was before they felt the ground shake for a moment before two pillars emerged at the end of the path that was opposite of where they landed... though as the larger portal opened the duo watched as a charred figure, walking like a king, emerged from the portal and approached them.
Rarity and Edric stared at the Ivory King for a moment, who finished walking out of the portal, before they separated from each other, which was the smart move since the Ivory King leapt into the air and pierced the ground where they had been standing seconds ago. As the duo recovered from fleeing the first attack the Ivory King charged towards Edric and swung his sword at him four times in a row, which Edric carefully avoided before cutting into his his opponent's side, only to avoid the incoming attack before he could be hit. Rarity, on the other hand, used the fact that the Ivory King wasn't interested in her and threw a Lightning Spear into the King's back, causing him to stagger while Edric moved out of the way, but what surprised her this time around was that the Ivory King still focused on his main target. There was something about Edric that made the Ivory King completely ignore Rarity, who felt that she was definitely the larger threat, and focus on her companion with all his might. Edric apparently was just fine with that arrangement, as it allowed him to keep the Ivory King's attention on him and wound him when an opening revealed itself, while also giving Rarity the chances she needed to win the fight.
Even when the Ivory King stabbed the ground, and loosed a barrage of crystals from the ground, it was mainly in an effort to kill Edric, allowing Rarity to bypass his attacks and damage him with her lightning based spells, before one of the spears left their opponent vulnerable... to which Edric stabbed his chest and he was consumed by a bright light as he collapsed to one knee, before fading away before their eyes. With the Ivory King defeated, and the portal he came through deactivated, Rarity walked forward and found an ivory crown, the Crown of the Ivory King, waiting for them, to which she smiled as she collected it.
"Great, now we have all four crowns," Edric said, still not understanding why they went through all that effort to collect these four items of power, as that was the one thing that he hadn't been told since they started this venture, "So, what exactly are we supposed to do with them now that they're all in our possession?"
"I think I know what to do next," Rarity replied, as she was feeling the tug of the crowns to visit a place they had been before, and revisit a certain someone now that they had all the items necessary to interact with the echo that was likely waiting in that chamber, "we need to visit the King once more."
Edric really had no idea why Rarity felt that they needed to visit the chamber where they killed King Vendrick, but since his friend was rarely wrong about her feelings, in fact he was sure that she was always right in these instances, he decided that he might as well see if she was right. The duo walked back over to where they landed, where a glowing beam of energy waited to take them back to the cathedral, where the lady of Eleum Loyce was pleased that they had granted her request before revealing that she was, in fact, a fragment of Manus, the Father of the Abyss, and that they carried the souls of two of her sisters, Elana and Nadalia. It was then revealed to them that there was a fourth fragment, a fourth sister in a sense, that she revealed to be none other than Nashandra, the Queen of Drangelic, meaning that she had plans for the land that Vendrick had ruled over. Alsanna, as the lady called herself, also imparted a small portion of her own power to them, so that she could aid them like her sisters, even if Elana and Nadalia weren't willing helpers, and ensure Nashandra was defeated.
With Alsanna's blessing, and the crown they came for, Rarity and Edric teleported out of Eleum Loyce and headed back to the Undead Crypt, where they quickly dispatched the enemies that were standing in their way and entered the area that King Vendrick, as a hollow, had been walking in. Rarity approached the pile of armor and felt the power still radiating from it, to which she beckoned for Edric to touch her shoulder before she did anything else, though once he was ready she touched the armor and the world went dark for a few moments as they drifted off to a different reality.
A few moments ticked by as Rarity and Edric waited in silence, as they were worried that they might have done something wrong, but before either of them said anything they reappeared in the same chamber that Vendrick's armor had been located in. This time around, however, they were greeted by an unusual sight, as King Vendrick, before he became the hollow they were forced to kill, was now sitting in the same spot his armor had been located in, though he appeared to be staring at the blade he carried and appeared to be completely human, or at least to some degree. The duo, not knowing what to do this time around, moved until they could actually look the mighty King in the eye and stood in front of him, though for a few moments he barely realized they were there... though that changed when Rarity decided to pull out the King's Crown, which he happened to be wearing a replica of at that very instant.
As flame rises, so does it fade. Such is the way of things. King Vendrick said, though instead of his mouth moving his voice was projected into their minds, which made sense considering that they were in the past, in a sense anyway, Do you intend to link the fire? Then you must first take the throne. Prove your worth. Find the ancient crowns. Seek adversity, and they will be yours. And your wishes, granted. The fire...
Rarity and Edric looked at each other, as this was the first time they had heard anything about linking a fire, though something told Rarity that there was a lot more to this situation than what they originally expected, as pieces of the puzzle were now starting to fall into place... and the overall picture wasn't looking too good at the moment.
Coveters of the throne... I am Vendrick, ruler of Drangleic. the King told them, causing the duo to snap their attention back to the echo that was sitting in front of them, as they were sure there was more for him to tell them that they didn't know, Seekers of fire... deliverers of crowns... What do you see in the flames? Find the crowns, and your own answers. The crowns hold the strength of lords from times long past. Seek adversity. As befits you, seekers of fire, coveters of the throne. I'm no king. I am more fit to be a jester. I was unaware of my own blindness. We are feeble vessels, with feebler souls. We would cast aside the prop of life, only to face greater hardship. Are you such fools? Or something more? I fail to see your design, young moths. But I see very little these days.
Rarity thought about this for a moment, as it appeared that the echo of King Vendrick had no idea that they already had the four crowns in their possession and would likely need to see the remaining three before they got anywhere, to which she pulled out the Crown of the Sunken King and placed both crowns in Edric's hands.
Seekers of fire, conquerers of Dark. I too sought fire, once. the echo told them, to which they listened, because they were both curious as to what would happen when the echo realized that they had all four crowns, With fire, they say, a true king can harness the curse. A lie, but I knew no better. Seekers of fire, you know not the depth of Dark within you. It grows deeper still, the more flame you covet. Flame, oh flame, I am king of this wretched unravelled kingdom. I subdued the giants, and claimed their strength, so that I might step closer to fire. Drangleic will fall. The fire will fade, and the souls of old will reamerge. With Dark unshackled, a curse will be upon us. And men will take their true shape.
The duo had heard the part about the giants before, and how they came back to have their revenge on the people of Drangelic for the King's actions, but neither of them liked the part where this mysterious 'fire' was going to fade and that everyone was going to taken on their true shapes once more... though, since that appeared to be all the second crown was going to get them, Rarity added the Crown of the Old Iron King to the mix.
Seekers of fire, I see you've subdued another foul creature. King Vendrick's echo continued, though Rarity had the feeling that it was either referring to Elana or Nadalia, but seeing which crown the statement was attached to she had to go with Nadalia's soul this time around, One of the Father of the Abyss' spawn. That confounded quintessence of Humanity. The abyss once had form, but then dissipated. And yet traces of its existence endured. Each fragment, thirsting for power, spread Dark with no relent. My dear Shandra, was one such fragment. The feeble, tiny thing that thirsted for power more than any other. Driven by unsatiable lust for a worthy vessel. Fire came to be, and with it disparity. Heat and cold, life and death, light and dark. Dark was seen as a curse. Shadow is not cast, but born of fire. And the brighter the flame, the deeper the shadow. Inherit fire, and harness the dark. Such is the calling of a true leader.
Rarity and Edric glanced at each other again, as this only confirmed Alsanna's claims that Nashandra was another fragment of the being Manus, one that desired power over all else and clearly would make sure there was someone to help her get what she wanted... which only made Rarity wonder what was lurking in the deepest reaches of the castle as she pulled out the Crown of the Ivory King.
One day fire will fade, and dark will become a curse. the echo told them, though the duo got the sense that the conversation was going to take a different tone this time around, while at the same time the King waved a hand over the four crowns, causing them to glow for a few seconds before the light faded, Men will be free from death, left to wander eternally. Dark will again be ours, and in our true shape, we can bury the false legends of yore. Only... is this our only choice? Seekers of fire, coveters of the throne, seek strength. The rest will follow.
Before Rarity and Edric could question what the echo of King Vendrick was saying the world around them disappeared and they reappeared where his armor was resting, back in the world they originally came from, though the four crowns still retained the same power that they had been blessed with when the echo waved a hand over them. At the same time, however, Rarity was beginning to understand what was so special about this quest and what they needed to do next, because their 'chat' with the King had opened her eyes to part of the truth... and what she knew was terrible.
"I take it you know what to do next?" Edric asked, though at the same time he returned the two crowns he was holding to Rarity's bag, since she was the one who insisted on carrying them the entire time, before looking her right in the eyes as she focused on the staircase near where they were standing.
"Yes, I know exactly what we need to do next," Rarity replied, to which she stepped forward and started walking back to where the closest bonfire was located, while hoping they weren't to late, "We need to head back to Drangelic Castle and delve into the depths once more... and stop Nashandra before she can get her hands on this powerful throne that King Vendrick told us about."
She still had no idea why this mysterious throne was connected to the even more mysterious fire that was mentioned at the same time, but something told her that allowing Nashandra to get her hands on the throne, and the connection to the fire, was a bad thing... and they could have set that wheel in motion already, which was why she was praying, to whichever god that would listen to her, that they weren't to late to stop the Queen's vile plans.
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Fun Fact: The Crown of the Sunken King? It used to be King Vendrick's.
So, is this based offa the OG Dark Souls 2 or is it based offa Scholar of the First Sin?
8870672 Originally it was to be based off the game without the DLCs, but then I decided to change my mind and added in the three Crown expansions. That means that Rarity and Edric have to go through the original guardians of the throne, then fight Nashandra, and then contend with Vendrick's brother before their quest is over.
8870675 Wait, aren’t you supposed to fight Vendrick’s brother before facing Nashandra?
8870683 Actually, to fight Aldia you have to kill Vendrick first and then face down Nashandra, which causes Aldia to rise and fight you as the last boss of the game. If you didn't kill Vendrick, however, Aldia would apparently not appear, leaving Nashandra as the final boss... so, since Rarity and Edric have long since killed the hollowed king, they'll be facing three boss creatures in a row.
Recognition!