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..)