Dark Souls - Age of Fire (No Spoilers)

Time for another dose of Dark Souls lore. Today we are going to be going over just enough of the Age of Fire to tease what to expect once the game actually begins. As a quick reminder, the previous Age, the Age of Ancients, saw the everlasting dragons go to war with Gwyn and his allies. Once Seath the Scaleless betrayed his brethren, the fighting quickly came to an end and the dragons were no more. 

“Thus began the Age of Fire.”

It is a little unclear which event it was exactly that ushered in the Age of Fire, but the point at which the dragons were truly defeated seems as good as any. This new Age is clearly defined by the way the Lords, or Gods, prospered during it. Great cities and statues were built in honor of these Gods as they ruled and began expanding not only their influence but also their numbers. Gwyn had several children and even more subjects. With Lordran under their control, all seemed to be going well for the Gods. 

“But soon, the flames will fade, and only Dark will remain.”

All things must come to an end, and when an Age of Dark threatened to end the glorious golden time of the Gods, they began searching for a way to stave off the Dark. It is at this point that Gwyn, trembling at the Dark, chose to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to extend his Age for his kin.

 

“And amongst the living are seen, carriers of the accursed Darksign.”

The Undead curse spread and with it, the fear that a Dark Lord would rise to power. All those marked with the Darksign were destined to live, die and live again, over and over. Between this and the knowledge of their eventual Age, the Gods chose to take matters into their own hands.

“...the Undead are corralled and led to the north…”

Figuring the Undead can’t possibly gain any power if they are all locked up, the Gods began forcing them into cells where they would have no power to do anything that might challenge the Age of Fire. Placing a fiercely powerful prison guard at the exit of the Asylum, it seemed like this plan would work to keep the current regime in power.

 

“...This is your fate.”

And thus begins your journey. Locked in a tiny, dingy stone room with only one metal door and a hole in the ceiling, your character is startled when a corpse suddenly crashes onto the floor. Looking skyward to see who dropped this ‘present’, you see a knight who quickly disappears back onto the roof of the Asylum. After checking the body, you find a key and make your way out of your confinement.

Where will your undying body and willpower take you? What kind of victories will you hold? And how many failures? What happened to Nito? Or the Witch of Izalith? And what of the betrayer, Seath the Scaleless? To find these answers, you’ll have to press onward into the fog.

Since we’ve covered some more lore today, it only seems fitting to spotlight another lore-heavy Dark Souls YouTuber in the form of Silver Mont. While not as widely known as VaatiVidya, Silver Mont has many, many videos about the Souls series and shows no signs of stopping. If you want to learn more about the Age of the Gods, make sure to check back when the next part of the Dark Souls Rundown goes into greater detail.

Until then, Praise the Sun and Vereor Nox.