Finally figured out what was wrong with my ps4 and now I get to play bloodborne again, and I'm curious to know more about the healing church.
I just got to Rom, (and I can't wait to beat him up) so I don't think that I have much to go off at this point. I'd like to hear what you guys know. Though I think I know who's gonna give me the best answer... :)
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Haha! Got giddy seeing this thread! ^-^ Ahem.. "Byrgenwerth, Byrgenwerth.. Blasphemous murderers.. Blood crazed fiends.." It all started long ago.. With a man named Willem, and his school; Byrgenwerth. One day, they discovered an underground labyrinth known as Pthumeru. What they found there is unclear, but what what they got from it is known; The miraculous Healing Blood. A mysterious blood able to heal any disease. But perhaps more importantly, they discovered the Eldritch Truth. Willem became obsessed with ascending to a higher plane of thinking, like the elusive Great Ones, encountered within the tomb. It was then that rumors of a strange creature--a god? A monster?--being found in a small fishing hamlet. Two (or more) students of the college--Gehrman, and Maria--were sent to the hamlet, where they discovered the dead Great One Kos.. And, its dead orphan, still inside its womb. They searched the inhabitants for eyes on the inside, brutally murdering the town, and stealing the unborn Great One child, as well as its umbilical cord. This act cursed them. And all Hunters. As Willem was obsessed with his research, another high ranking student named Laurence researched the Blood. And he found it far more efficient to ascend than "Eyes", or insight. So, Laurence decided to take the Blood, abandon Byegenwerth, and pursue his own research.. "Oh, I know, I know. You seek now to betray me." "No, but you will never listen. I promise I will not forget our adage." "We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Fear the old blood." "I must take my leave." "By the gods.. Fear it, Laurence.." -Master Willem & Laurence, on the subject of his departure. We know for sure of two students who left with Laurence: Gehrman, and Micolash. It's heavily impled Maria left with them as well. So, here comes this crazy guy from the woods, telling you to drink blood, because it's a miracle cure! Sounds legit. The people of Yharnam didn't take well to Laurence's "miracle blood". They needed a way to spread their influence. They needed power, and resources to continue their research.. And what better way to spread a cure than to cause an illness? "They believe medicine not as a means of treatment, but rather a method of research, and that some knowledge can be obtained only by exposing oneself to infection." -White Church Hunter Set The Ashen Blood. A mysterious, baffling sickness that ravaged Old Yharnam. It came out of nowhere, and medicine only slowed it. Conveniently the Healing Church appeared with its miracle blood, and cured the entire town.. For a time. It became clear there was aside effect to the Blood.. And from one illness came another. The Beastly Scourge. People treated with the Blood became flesh hungry Beasts, and so the Church made a secret sect of warriors, of Hunters, to deal with them. The Workshop. The Ashen Blood treated, the Beastly Scourge unknown, the Church now in power. Whether it became the official government, or no, the Healing Church ruled Yharnam, and used this seat of power to continue their wicked experiments. But things got worse. As more people were afflicted with Ashen Blood, more people needed Healing Blood, more people became Beasts, and the Workshop started getting overwhelmed. A sect of the Workshop--the Oto Workshop--decided to try blowing beasts up, instead of assassinating them. The Oto Workshop was shunned by the Church for attacking Beasts in public. People would start to catch on.. Unless.. The town caught on first. On fire, that is. "The Red Moon hangs low, and beasts rule the streets. Are we left no choice but to burn it all to cinders?" Old Yharnam was burnt to a crisp. Whether it was the Church, or the Oto Workshop, who can say? Either way, people knew of the Scourge. People were going to understand what was going on, and rebel against the Church.. Or, at least they would have. If it weren't for Ludwig. He decided to tell the people about the beasts. Rally the people, and let them join the Hunt! Ludwig formed one of the three prominent branches of the Church; the Church Workshop. Gehrman was abandoned, while Ludwig's Workshop rose, and an army rose with it. Now, I said three branches. Let's rewind. "The Red Moon hangs low.." The Red Moon.. Now, it's unclear whether it's happened multiple times, but I believe it happened once. To explain, let's mention one of the other branches. The School of Mensis. Strictly speaking yes, the School is part of the Church, but it's more like a seperate institution, so I won't talk a lot about it. But here's a bit. Micolash continued the exploits into the tombs, finding another umbilical cord. He used this, to enter a Nightmare, and beckoned the Red Moon to rebirth himself (speculation). Willem temporarily stopped it. I can explain more if you want, in a seperate post. Okay, fast forward. The Church found a Great One called Ebrietas. Their encounter with Ebrietas formed the third branch, the Church elite; the Choir. The Choir began experimenting on people to commune with Ebrietas, who they did already have limited communication with. To this end they turned people into Celestial Children (imperfect), and Celestial Emissaries (perfected). From this they created the Augur of Ebrietas. The Choir & School of Mensis competed with one another, and that's part of why the School departed. However, eventually, the Church's downfall came from the very thing that gave them power; the Blood. As it was, clerics turned into the worst beasts, and the last Vicar (ruler): Amelia of the Church dies in the events of the game, and the city was overrun by horrid little beasties. And yet.. The School of Mensis was making something much worse.. (I feel like my writing went down in quality near the end, but..)
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Imagine if there was an evil so wicked, and powerful, that the smartest man in the world would sacrifice everything to stop it.. And fail. In my first post, I talked about the Healing Church as a whole. Briefly touching on subjects like the Choir, and School of Mensis. In my second post, I talked about Oedon, their figure of worship, and spoke of the Choir in detail. Now, rounding out my trilogy of posts on the Healing Church's lore, I'm going to talk about the School of Mensis. [b][u]Warning: spoilers inbound![/u][/b] "Ah, Kos.. Or some say Kosm.." This story, like most of Bloodborne, begins at Byrgenwerth, and a scholar named Micolash. Micolash was at Byrgenwerth during the split, and like Gehrman, he left with Laurence, becoming one of the founders of the Healing Church. His role in the founding is largely unclear, but it was evident that he was a trusted friend of Laurence, for he was almost immediately charged with running the School of Mensis. In the early years of the Church, the School likely acted similar to how the Choir did in later years. A place where scholars gathered, and researched the Eldritch Truth. Laurence mostly gave Micolash free reign to do whatever he wanted, and the School was placed in a mostly unknown part of Yharnam. It was from here that several atrocities arose. The School made a great many accomplishments, none of which were pretty. They found ways to reverse death, summon from other dimensions, tame/ally Amygdala.. Beckon the Red Moon. The Choir didn't trust them, and the two were on terrible terms. Even so, the Choir did share the fruits of their research, like the Augur of Ebrietas, A Call Beyond, and the Choir Bell. But, by the end of things, the School had kidnapped & imprisoned members of the Choir, and the Choir felt the need to infiltrate the School. Despite all the horrors comitted by these fiendish kidnappers, they managed to find an Umbilical Cord of a Great One in the tombs, and one day, the School's lecture hall vanished into thin air, and the parts of the building still left only held empty corpses, with cages on top of their heads. This was, however, intentional. At least partially. For they had come upon Mergo's Nightmare, soon to be known as the Nightmare of Mensis.. "This cord granted Mensis audience with Mergo, but resulted in the stillbirth of their brains." Most of the School did not survive. Most of the ones that did were slimy creatures, that mindlessly attacked anyone in sight. But, at least 3 did. The first was Edwad. His goals are unclear, but he acted as Choir Intelligence. Very little lore on him.. The other two are more important, however. (this next part is speculation) A Dream World requires two things. The first is a Great One, to conjure the Dream. The second is a Host to stabilize it. And Mergo's Dream did not have a Host. Mergo.. The child of Oedon, and Queen Yharnam. As an infant, Mergo didn't put much into his Nightmare, and without a Host, it would distort, and fall apart. When Mensis arrived, Oedon saw an opportunity. He spoke with the survivors, and asked one to become a Host, in exchange for power, and knowledge. Micolash accepted, becoming Host of the Nightmare, and given so much knowledge that he went mad. His unnamed accomplice was ascended into a Wet Nurse to attend to the child. (end speculation) For a while, all was well, but two events disgruntled this peace. Queen Yharnam attacked the Nightmare to slay the monster thatcwas the Wet Nurse, and reclaim her child, but this creature mercilessly slew any who came, leaving Yharnam to weep just outside, unable to see her child. The second was Micolash's lust for power. (speculation again) Jealous of the Wet Nurse's ascension, Micolash wanted to ascend himself. Oedon refused, for a Host must be human. In rage, he found the means to contact the Bell Maidens, and began a wicked ritual.. (end speculation) "Do you hear our prayers?" The School, using the mysterious Pthumerian Bell Maidens began a ritual to beckon the Red Moon, a mysterious power that would blur the line between the Nightmare and Waking worlds. However, there was another effect to this. It accentuated the Beastly Scourge. Old Yharnam, already struggling with its Beast problem was plunged into chaos, as even more turned into Beasts. The Hunters were left with no choice but to burn it all away.. "As you once did for the Vacuous Rom.." But that alone wasn't enough. At Byrgenwerth Willem, with the Insight he had gained, knew what triuble the Red Moon brought. He decided that the only choice was to stop it, at all costs.. And so, he sacrificed himself to become Host of another Dream to counter the Red Moon. Rom, the Vacuous Great One of the Lake, ascended from mortal, was able to hide the Red Moon, though both she and Willem were made empty shells to do so.. "Grant us eyes! Grant us eyes! Plant eyes on our brains, to cleanse us of our beastly idiocy!" But this would not last forever, and one day, the veil would be lifted, and the lake that shielded the world would fall. "The grand lake of mud, hidden now from sight.." Micolash would complete his Ritual, and (soeculation) become Micolash, the One Reborn! (end speculation) A failed attempt at becoming becoming a Great One.. And once it fell, the only shield Micolash had left was the Brain of Mensis.. "The immense brain that Mensis retrieved from the Nightmare was indeed lined with eyes on the inside, but they were an evil sort, and the brain itself was terribly rotten." Whetber the brain was ascended from the rest of the School, or a Great One enlisted to defend Mergo is unknown, but it stood in defense either way. As did Micolash, and in return Oedon gave him knowledge still.. "Ah the Cosmos of course! Let us sit about and speak feverishly! Of new ideas of the higher plane!" But in the end, Micolash fell, as did the Wet Nurse, and the Brain, and even Mergo. Everything Oedon has hoped to save, and everything he did to save it was gone.. A Hunter must Hunt, after all.. But who was it, exactly, that chose the prey? [i]"Seek Paleblood to transcend the Hunt.."[/i]
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"The Sky and the Cosmos are one!" This quote confuzzled me at first. I interpreted it as "the sky and space are one", which was really out of place at the time. Little did I know this quote was actually a pretty big deal.. Here we stand, feet planted in the Earth, but might the Cosmos be very near to us, only just above our heads? Today, we will be talking about the Church, but not [i]just[/i] the Church, but about Oedon, and the Choir. Now, for a "Church" it's a bit strange how we never really hear very much signs of a god, or gods. Well, that makes sense, actually. Most of the encounters with the Church involve its ins and outs, and the Church wasn't [i]really[/i] a religious place. And yet.. You've heard the name Oedon before, hm? Don't lie to me! Yes you have! Oedon Tomb Oedon Chapel Oedon Writhe Formless Oedon The first place we encounter upon emtering Cathedral Ward is this chapel dedicated to some guy named Oedon. Oedon apparently also has a tomb. At first, you woulf think he's dead, but Runes say otherwise. "The Great One Oedon, lacking in form, exists only in voice, and is symbolized by this Rune." It's partially just speculation, really, but the way I see it, Oedon was the central figure of worship to the Church.. And "both Oedon and his inadvertant worshippers surreptitiously seek the precious blood..". That is a very.. Interesting sentence, don't you think? Inadvertant means unintentional, and surreptitious means stealthy. This means Oedon has some unintentional followers who stealthily seek blood.. Sounds like a certain Workshop to me.. But, how are they unadvertantly following Oedon? Well, Hunters come follow the Church, which worships Oedon, and they acted in stealth at first. This likely doesn't apply to most modern Hunters, but anyway.. Let's focus on the word [b]both[/b]. Oedon wants "precious blood". As a Great One, he probably doesn't need the Old Blood.. For himself anyway. There are 3 interpretations I got from this; 1. He wants bloodshed 2. He wants the Blood Moon/Red Moon I think 1 is the most likely.. How convenient that men start turning into Beasts, from a mysterious Blood found from an unknown source in the labirynth, hm? Oedon also plays a major role in the story, but we'll get to that some other time. The Choir.. The upper echlons of the Church.. The Church elite.. It's ironic, really. Laurence split from Byrgenwerth due to believing Blood>Insight, but the Church elite reverted back to a style resembling Willem's teachings.. The Choir originated in a place called the Orphanage. During Laurence's time children either went here, or were taken here, to become great scholars of the Church. Given the name, most of the original inhabitants were likely orphans. Originally it was probably a small institution, inferior to the School of Mensis. But, as Micolash plotted behind the scenes, the Orphanage discovered something amazing in the tombs beneath Yharnam.. The Pthumerian city of Isz. Isz seemed to have ascended, through means of insight.. Or perhaps, it was simply abandoned by the Great Ones who were once there. Either way, really, the Orphanage stumbled upon something amazing; the Great One Ebrietas. Abandoned, left behind, and in mourning, Ebrietas probably felt happy, when the soon-to-be Choir accepted her. Through her teachings, they created the Augur of Ebrietas, and she was happy to assist them. But they wanted more.. They wanted to fully commune with her, not just hear her whispers.. To that end, they required test subjects. By this time, the Church's three branches were formed. The elite Choir, the militaristic Workshop, and the secretive School of Mensis. As the elites of the city, they were easily able to get ample subjects. In a dangerous city of beasts, wouldn't it be safer to leave your children with the savior Church, after all? "The Choir stumbled upon an epiphany very suddenly, and quite by accident. Here we stand, feet planted in the earth, but might the Cosmos be very close, only just above our heads?" -Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge As they experimented on the children of Yharnam, their research yielded many tools such as the Blacksky Eye, and A Call Beyond, but their research culminated in the Celestial Emissary, able to commune with Great Ones.. And there was a Great One very close indeed.. "The Sky and the Cosmos are one!" Oedon existed everywhere, and nowhere all at once. He gave the Church their tainted Old Blood, guided the Choir to grand heights, and caused Yharnam to collapse upon itself.. Why? For blood? Or maybe.. He had something to protect.. But what? And from whom? And how did he plan to protect it? [i]"Ah.. The Cosmos of course! Let us sit about, amd speak feverishly.."[/i] [spoiler]disclaimer: this post had a lot more speculation than the other one[/spoiler]
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Edited by Blue: 5/29/2017 11:27:30 PMSo, even though Aifos explained I might be able to assist you. So the Healing Church was founded by Laurence/Lawrence who was a student at Byrgenwerth(a prestigious academy). Laurence was a student of Willem(the "head" of the academy) and you can argue Laurence was possibly his favorite student but they differed at two points: Laurence believed in blood for the "ascension of humanity". While Willem believed in insight for the evolution of humanity so you'll never guess what happened next..... Laurence one day came to tell Willem he was going to leave Byrgenwerth to conduct further research( he also could possibly have convinced some other students to follow him). Willem saw this as a betrayal while Laurence thought that Willem could never truly understand him.... So you're wondering what did Laurence do next? He possibly did these(in chronological order. I hope.) 1. Laurence went to the people of Yharnam and told them of his blood they simply ignored him. Very few listened to him in the start 2.So he decided to spread a disease. An illness to be exact. Now I'm gonna go into speculation but I believe that Laurence and his band of followers used poison knives to poison the water supply of Yharnam and this started the first plague. This is also when his "blood of the gods" came to the entire populous 3. However next came something you should be much, much more familiar with. The Beastly Scourge. It possibly started with the use of the blood. However, the people of Yharnam slowly transformed into beasts. 4. So this is possibly when Laurence started the church. This is also when Laurence began to send out Hunter's of the church those of the Workshop. 5.But as the disease began to spread the Church knew what to do the Church used a sect of hunters known as the Powderkegs who destroyed a section of Yharnam(now known as Old Yharnam) by lighting it on fire(you may know one of the Powderkegs he is called Djura a.k.a. Machine gun man) So after that people put the pieces of the puzzle together and knew they messed up as the Church had caused the plague and they had been listening to them. However the church sent Hunters to Yharnam to rally support(one of them is called Ludwig). This is also when the Church could have possibly split into three branches: 1. The Healing Church: Headed by Laurence 2. The School of Mensis: Headed by Micolash 3. The Choir:Headed by ???? Thus began the beginning of the end of the Church. Hope this was right you might not read this because of Aifos's wonderful post. My memory of the lore is rusty and I might have forgotten some key or minor events. Hope this helps. :) Sources: My memory, VaatiVidya, Fungo(check them out on YouTube except for my memory).
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Aifos will give you the best answer. He's the BB aficionado around these parts...I've been reading quite a bit on the lore and it's definitely interesting to say the least.
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Edited by dova spook: 5/29/2017 4:31:57 AMI think it started with Laurence, he used the blood of the Great Ones in attempt to ascend humanity while forgetting the adage: "Fear the old blood." Yharnamites were given blood ministrations using Great Ones blood. While this healed wounds and cured diseases, it was also the source of the Scourge; the lycanthropy that cursed Yharnamites.
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Told ya. Aifos will handle it.
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Bloodboop