Kin lore

(Theoretical and Developing)
Kin form a subgroup of Bloodborne enemies, they
are described by the Kin Coldblood as "the
inhuman kin of the cosmos, brethren of the Great
Ones.
The meaning of "Kin" is often confused
with "extraterrestrial looking enemy". This is,
unfortunately, a gross oversimplification.
There are many alien-looking enemies that might
be falsely recognized as Kin, but only those enemies
affected by Kinhunter Bloodgems are true Kin.
Enemies that may be mistaken for Kin
are: Crawlers, Yetis, Silverbeasts, Winter
Lanterns, Slime Scholars, Church
Doctors and Hateful Maggots.
Another common mistake is to assume that all
"Great Ones" are Kin. The Moon

Presence, Amygdala and Mergo's Wet Nurse are
not Kin.
The only Great Ones that are true Kin
are Ebrietas, Celestial Emissary, The Living
Failures and Rom the Vacuous Spider.
Among regular enemies, the true Kin are Celestial
Larva, Celestial Mob, Fluorescent
Flower, Brainsucker, Children of Rom and Garden of
Eyes.
Kin are quite diverse in their appearance and they
also share many traits with non-Kin. This makes it
difficult to tell Kin from non-Kin by looks alone.
Careful examination of Kin does reveal some
characterizing traits, which, while not perfect, help
understand and describe Kin.
Kin appear near places of learning

Byrgenwerth houses 5 types of
Kin: Brainsucker, Fluorescent Flower, Garden of
Eyes, Rom and the Children of Rom.
In fact - with the exception of the Choir Hunter
NPC and Master Willem - Kin are the only living
beings at Byrgenwerth.
Celestial Larvae are also present in Byrgenwerth, but
they are all dead. Their corpses come in two forms:
"rotten " and "ashen ".
Another type of Kin enemy, The Celestial Mob,
dwells in in The Forbidden Woods surrounding
the Byrgenwerth facility.
Kin appear in Cathedral Ward, Upper Cathedral
Ward, Iosefka's Clinic, The Research Hall, and The
Great Isz Labyrinth.
Iosefka's Clinic harbors a Brainsucker and one or
more Celestial Mobs, depending on how many
people the player sent to Iosefka's Clinic.

Cathedral Ward has only a single stray Brainsucker,
but Upper Cathedral Ward - controlled by The
Choir - houses 5 types of Kin.
Upper Cathedral
Ward contains Brainsuckers, Celestial
Larvae, Celestial Mob and the
bosses Ebrietas and Celestial Emissary.
Upper Cathedral Ward contains The Orphanage,
which the The Orphanage Key describes as "a place
of scholarship and experimentation".
The Research Hall, an epicenter of blood research,
and the likely birthplace of The Celestial Mob, leads
up to the Kin boss fight againt The Living Failures.
Great Isz is typified by its abundance of Kin and its
- Kin-like - pale blue color scheme . The Great
Isz Chalice is considered the cornerstone of The
Choir.

"Remnant of the Eldritch Truth encountered
at Byrgenwerth.
The initial encounter marked the start of an inquiry
into the cosmos from within the old labyrinth, and
led to the establishment of the Choir."
- Augur of Ebrietas
"The Great Isz Chalice became the cornerstone of
the Choir, the elite delegation of the Healing
Church.
It was also the first Great Chalice brought back to
the surface since the time of Byrgenwerth, and
allowed the Choir to have audience with Ebrietas."
- Great Isz Chalice
"According to the Choir, the land of Isz lies in
contact with the cosmos, which allowed the Great

Ones to function on transcendental planes of
thought."
- Great Isz Root Chalice
Great Isz holds Celestial Mobs, Celestial
Larvae, Brainsuckers and Fluorescent Flowers, and
is the only labyrinth where one may fight Celestial
Emissary and Ebrietas.
Notably there are no Kin in The Lecture Building,
just Slime Scholars. It's not implausible that Slime
Scholars are in the process of becoming Kin.
Kin are connected to the Arcane element
Most Kin have an elevated defense against
the Arcane element, and many among them
can cast Arcane spells .

An exception to this is the Garden of Eyes, who is
an outlier when it comes to Kin traits. It has
no Arcane spells and only average Arcane defenses.
The spellcasting Kin are Rom, Ebrietas, The Celestial
Emissary, The Living Failures and the elite versions
of Brainsucker and Celestial Mob.
Celestial Larvae have elevated Arcane defenses but
can't cast spells. Rom doesn't have
an elevated Arcane defense, but can cast spells.
Martyr Logarius and The One Reborn are two
enemies that have extraordinary Arcane defenses
and use Arcane spells, but aren't Kin.
More enemies that use Arcane attacks are: Slime
Scholars, Labyrinth Ritekeepers, Fish
Witches, Church Doctors and Witches of Hemwick.
Also capable of Arcane attacks
are: Micolash, Gehrman, The Orphan of
Kos, Amygdalans and Silverbeasts. Other examples
may exist.

Micolash, Orphan of Kos, Ludwig, Yharnam, Undead
Giant, Blood-starved Beast, Cleric
Beast, Amelia and Laurence also have
high Arcane defenses.
The same is true for Bloodlicker, Hateful
Maggot, Bound Widow, Church Doctor, Chapel
Giant, Nightmare Apostle and Winter Lantern.
The spells of Kin typically have a blue hue. There
are two exceptions to this.
Ebrietas can conjures up a purple aura
. Fluorescent Flower is capable of summoning a
fiery meteor from the cosmic void , which deals
Fire damage.
To compare, Logarius , The Orphan of
Kos and The One Reborn always cast
red Arcane spells. Witches of Hemwick cast
blue and purple spells .

Kin have plantlike traits
In this context I use the word "plant" to refer to
true plants, fungi and primitive organisms whose
behavior is similar to that of plants.
The Garden of Eyes which has the word "garden"
in its official name, implying that its eyes are
cultivated.
The eyes may be cultivated for the purpose of
harvesting them, and Byrgenwerth is aligned with
countless jars filled with disembodied eyeballs .
On the other hand, the eyes of the Garden are
yellow , while the eyes in the jars are all white.
It's possible that the eyes are instead "planted" on
the Gardens. Master Willem may have thought this
a means of transcending humanity.
Ebrietas is covered in sponge like tubes ,
. Sponges are plantlike animals that filter food from
water.

They also give her head the appearance of a sea
anemone , another plantlike animal.
Her wings lack webbing, and don't constitute a
realistic set of wings, but rather reflect a complex
set of tendrils or branches .
Instead of claws, she has tentacles . These
may at first appear to be cephalopod traits,
but Ebrietas' tentacles also display additional
branches.
Branching is exhibited by plants, and by some
primitive animals and tissues . It does not
occur in cephalopods.
The Celestial Emissary and his Celestial Mobs guard
the Lumenflower Garden in Upper
Cathedral Ward.
These Celestials have oversized heads which
remind of the sporebearing hoods

of mushrooms , while taking after the heads
of cephalopods as well .
Apart from their oversized heads, they have very
wrinkly faces , which resemble the spore
containing folds of a mushroom .
Their eyes are very small and stick out a little ,
like stalks. Their long, slender fingers end in very
similar white dots .
I hypothesize that these white eyes on stalks, and
the slender, white dotted fingers, are references to
the traits and behavior of fungi.
A fungus will live most of its life in the form of a
body of little white threads , called hyphae. The
full body of threads is called a mycelium.
A fungus searches for food by growing at the tips
of the little white threads, which are "intelligent"
enough to distinguish food from the inedible.

If it finds something edible, the hyphae will
penetrate and envelop the food source , a scene
that is most recognizable in the form of mold .
When a Celestial charges at you "fingers first" they
may be immitating the predatory behavior of
a fungus, with the hyphae being their fingers.
The white dots at the tips of the hyphae are all
a fungus has for eyes. Likewise, the Celestial has
white dots for eyes and white dots on slender
fingers.
The Celestial's charge of also resembles the charge
of a walking dead. Walking dead will extend their
arms for the purpose of grabbing prey.
Fungus can be traced back to Great Isz ,
where giant spores bud from the floor and
strange mold deposits appear everywhere.

This fungus likely is The Tomb Mold , which
grows from blood and rotten flesh and matures to
bear giant spores - Tomb MoldItem Description.
Celestial Mobs are the most prevalent Kin
within Great Isz, and they just might be connected
to the bloodthirsty mold, kind of like Body
Snatchers .
The Living Failures defend a gigantic cluster of
Lumenflowers . In which sense they're the mirror
image of The Celestial Emissaryand his mobs.
Like Celestial Mobs, Living Failures respawn from
the soil of The Lumenflower Garden. It's possible
that they are early attempts at creating a Celestial
Emissary.
The body plan of The Emissary is quite similar to
the body plan of The Failures ,
notwithstanding Failures being much more
amorphous.

They have the same basic hands , though
the left hand of a Celestial has a seventh finger
. Celestials also have extra lumps around their
pelves .
Like Celestials , Failures raise their hands to
sky for the sake of summoning meteors , an
ability they share with other Kin bosses .
Still, their exact function is uncertain. It's not certain
if they were created with the same idea in mind, or
that the Emissary is the finished product.
Fluorescent Flower's relation to plant life is rather
obviously demonstrated by the luminescent flower
sticking out of its eye .
Besides the flower, Fluorescent Flower has ivy like
characteristics , next
to it arthropod/centipede like characteristics .

But arthropod traits don't explain the long white
threads on its upper body, nor the flatness of
the central limbs .
These flat limbs, and the strangely aligned hairs,
rather resemble the aerial roots of ivy .
The Brainsucker is a being that has lost its mouth
and eyes , which have been reduced to
featureless holes from which tiny tendrils sprout.
Brainsuckers host "insight slugs " /
"phantasms " within their crania. In which
sense they mirror the plantlike Milkweed .
The giant head tentacle , may be
the Brainsucker's most eye-catching feature, and it
resembles a nematode , one of nature's most
primitive animals.
The transparent nematode may pass for what is
considered "a phantasm", and it may

be nematode/phantasms that are seen on The
Blacksky Eye .
Nematodes may prey upon other nematodes,
sucking them dry , or swallowing them
whole . They may have a "stylet " for just
such a purpose.
In the Japanese version, "Milkweed" is "Nursery". It's
unclear if the phantasm cooperates with its nursing
host, or rather moves it around like a puppet.
Celestial Larva has tiny tendrils for wings . These
may yet turn into the complex wings of Ebrietas
.
Like Ebrietas, Celestial Larva possess "wings" with
no webbing, and which display relatively plantlike
branching.
Like Ebrietas, Celestial Larvae have tentacles for
arms. These have begun to branch into additional
tentacles , like the arms of Ebrietas .

The Celestial Larva has 3 sub-tentacles, These
tentacle fingers are quite small, but the branching is
present.
Celestial Larvae have different eyes
than Ebrietas . These eyes look
like mushrooms , or suction cups.
Rom's plant traits came in the form of countless
luminescent plants that sprout from her
abdomen .
Her abdominal skin even looks like dried out
soil . It looks like Rom is a fertile bed for
these pretty plants.
Patterns on her tails also remind of the plant art
found in Yharnam art and architecture ,
though this open to interpretation.
Kin are connected to "concealment"

The first and foremost example of this is Rom, The
Vacuous Spider, a creature that endeavors to
conceal "all manner of rituals" and "enlightenment".
"The Byrgenwerth spider hides all manner of rituals,
and keeps our lost master from us. A terrible
shame. It makes my head shudder uncontrollably."
- Cathedral Ward Lore Note
"The spider hides all manner of rituals, certain to
reveal nothing, for true enlightenment need not be
shared."
- Byrgenwerth Lore Note
Rom wove a web of deception around Yharnam,
concealing The Mensis Ritual .
Killing Rom destroys the web, and unveils reality.
Another characteristic of Rom that she is herself
hidden, a secret of the lake, which can only be
reached by plunging into a strange, white pool .

The Kin boss Ebrietas is another such secret, hidden
below The Grand Cathedral, which can only be
accessed from Upper Cathedral Ward.
Upper Cathedral Ward is the headquarters of the
secretive organization "The Choir", and is stated to
be a place filled with "potent unseen thinkers".
The Choir sought audience with Ebrietas in
the Labyrinth of Isz. The Great Isz
Chalice which unlocked this hidden realm, became
their cornerstone.
It's possible Ebrietas is herself "The Eldritch Truth
encountered at Byrgenwerth" - Augur of
Ebrietas. This is a theory explained under Ebrietas
Lore.
The Eldritch Truth, a concept derived
from Lovecraft, is a thing capable of driving one
mad. Which could mean that obscuring the truth is
essential.

Like Ebrietas, The Living Failures constitute a dark
secret, and serve as the climax of the
obscure Research Hall area, along with Lady Maria.
Besides being a secret, Failures are able to blot out
the sky by summoning a starry darkness , which
in turn releases a barrage of meteors .
One theory of mine is that the blue color of The
Failures is in some way related to the day sky, and
that Failures may have control over the sky .
The Lumenflower cluster they protect appears very
important, it's possible that it's this cluster that
revives The Living Failures when they fall.
The function of Lumenflowers is uncertain, but the
word "lumen" refers to light, which implies a
connection between the plants and "light".
The appearance of such Lumenflowers near
creatures that can change the light of day, could
indicate Lumenflowers and Failures as two parts of
a whole.

Some Lumenflowers exhibit luminescence
, meaning they could be a source of ethereal light,
which Failures might use to imitate the light of the
sky.
Given the bizarre phenomena already observed
in Bloodborne's sky , this idea's not
too incredulous, and it fits into various mythologies.
Fluorescent Flower is the only enemy that
drops Arcane Haze , a blue dust that resembles
the effect of The Empty Phantasm Shell .
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon
where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure
the clarity of the sky.
Haze is formed by particles emerging from farming
activaties, traffic, industry and wild fire. If these
particles induce mist, it is called "wet" haze.

The word "haze" may also be used to denote
visibility-reducing aerosols. These are caused by
complex chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
The Workshop Haze Extractor can be used to
convert Ritual Materials to Arcane Haze, suggesting
that Haze can be used to form a myriad of shapes.
Real life examples of atmospheric haze: , ,
Celestial Mobs may have some connection to the
alien doppelgangers from Invasion ofThe Body
Snatchers .
They display bioluminescence . They
have luminescent eyes and some
possess luminescent tentacles.
In the animal world, bioluminescence is used to lure
prey - mimic other animals - and communicate with
members of the same species.

This means Celestials could be capable of special
forms of disinformation and communication, like
an intelligence service.
They might be use luminous patterns to
communicate, like Lovecraft's Mi-Go, or maybe they
warp light, creating illusions.
In Dark Souls, Sorcery - the blue hued precursor
of Arcane - is the form of magic that allows the
manipulation of light.
It's Sorcery that allows one to imitate inanimate
objects , or become see-through and/or
invisible .
Another possible
reason Celestials are bioluminescent is so called
"counter-illumination camouflage ".
Counter-illumination is a method of camouflage in
which an animal produces light to match an
illuminated background.

In practice, a squid may light itself up to match the
ocean surface. As a result the squid may avoid
being detected by predators below.
It is my theory that Celestials may have been using
their blue color and bioluminescence to match the
sky.
Celestials may dwell in the blue sky, unobserved
and inconspicuous. It could be the perfect location
from which to monitor humanity.
In Fishing Hamlet, Yharnam can be seen from above
through the waters . This could clarify
how Celestials might hide in the sky.
Brainsuckers have the distasteful habit of intruding
skulls and preying on Insight. This may be thought
of as a form of concealment.
Insight is a form of perception, which has
sometimes been regarded as the inner eye of
reason, or the third eye of spirituality.

Without Insight there are things in Bloodborne that
you will literally be unable to see, hear or
experience .
A full list of these effect can be found on the
page "Insight". By robbing you of Insight,
the Brainsucker is concealing these things from you.
Celestial Larvae constitue another secret, hidden
away in Upper Cathedral Ward. They are regarded
as "the potent unseen thinkers of The Healing
Church".
"Key to the Orphanage, birthplace of the
Choir." The Orphanage, shadowed by the Grand
Cathedral, was a place of scholarship and
experimentation, where young orphans became
potent unseen thinkers for the Healing Church. The
Choir, that would later split the Healing Church, was
a creation of the Orphanage." - Orphanage Key

The Garden of Eyes has no known link to
concealment, but The Garden of Eyes tends to be
an outlier when it comes to Kin traits.
The Kin and Insight
Kin appear near places of learning: The Research
Hall, Byrgenwerth, Upper Cathedral
Ward and Iosefka's Clinic.
In the real world, insight has been sought after by
all manner of scholars: scientists, philosophers,
theologists and those that adhere to esotericism.
The reasons for seeking insight vary, insight is
sought after for its intrinsic value, to know how to
live one's life, or to solve practical problems.
While once all part of the same concept, the
desired purpose of insight has been causing a split,
between insight of a rather material or a rather
immaterial value.

Science typifies the material form of insight. It's
unparalleled in its ability to work verifiable data into
models that help explain the world.
To accomplish this, science holds admissible data to
strict norms. Its theories face heavy competition and
are under pressure to produce verifiable results.
As effective as this setup is, problems emerge
precisely from science's attempts to be simple and
concise.
A more natural definition of insight is "that which
begets a feeling of understanding".
Modern science makes no promise that its theories
will bring about "a feeling of understanding".
In fact, many people aware of scientific merit are
left bewildered by its findings, which can be be
disenchanting and dull.

As a consequence, many look for insight beyond
the scope of science, and sometimes even in
conflict with science.
There are those that will claim, that insight in
conflict with science is false, that it does not
constitute "true insight".
But for all the importance attributed to "insight",
telling false insight from true insight is everything
but evident.
The aforementioned "feeling of understanding", is a
perception, fundamentally so, and as such,
vulnerable to error.
Insight has been linked to self-awareness, a higher
form of consciousness that is, nonetheless,
inherently subjective.
Some of the most profound feelings of
understanding manifest in the form of
emotional inner spectacles, akin to poetry.

As such, the revelation of insight is often very
unwordly, like a dream, with its practical merits next
to non-existent.
In early times, insight was often indistinguishable
from "knowledge".
This knowledge did not have to make accurate
predictions or leave people with a feeling of
understanding.
Knowledge was meant to be known, it was to be
taught as fact and then accepted without question.
Only in recent history have human beings begun to
expect - even demand - that insight/knowledge
solve our practical and existential needs.
The norm of history is indoctrination and
copywork. This mindset was almost as common
in the schools of science as it was in religious
institutions.

Being an insightful man meant being a
knowledgeable man, a walking library of human
knowledge.
How this knowledge was acquired, and what exactly
its benefits to society were, was a subject only
thinly explored
Only the ruling elite could touch the subject. They
only did so on their terms.
Once knowledge was accepted as canon, its value
was established. Afterwards the ruling elite
regarded its social value as written in stone.
Because this knowledge was regarded as the truth,
merely knowing it imparted profound insight into
the nature of things.
Bloodborne's Insight may be akin to this kind of
knowledge, tiny fragments of knowledge that add
up to a singular, profound truth.

On the other hand this may not be the
case, Insights may be more like "phantasms", or
"dreams", and the truths they disclose may be false.
Such cosmic Insights may be more like
ideas, temporarily plucked from the cosmos,
possible, but "false" if they don't portray current
affairs.
An insight may be only contingent, and be
subjective, but that may not be a mere hinderance,
but an essentiality for there to be insight.
Knowledge in itself does not constitute
insight. Seeds "know" when to sprout, bacteria
"know" how to recreate themselves, but they don't
have insight.
For there to be insight, there must be
consciousness. But what is it then? Is it realizing
that you know something? Could it be only a
feeling?

If it is a feeling, then is one feeling of
understanding not equal to another? If we realize
that we know, then is insight not distinct from
knowledge itself?
That is why this form of knowing has its own word
"self-awareness". We know that we know,
unlike bacteria which don't know that they "know".
People have struggled for centuries to define the
true nature of insight. Many schemes exist, but so
far no one can teach insight to a computer.
To this day people can't agree whether or not
insight exists in animals. The main reason for this is
that people can't agree on what insight really is.
Bloodborne capitalizes on this enigmatic nature of
insight and provides an answer that is both
imaginative and insane.

In Bloodborne, Insight is a Stat, a form of currency
at the Insight Bath, and is sometimes used
interchangeably with "eyes on the inside".
Insight can be acquired by finding bosses and areas
for the first time. It can also acquired by defeating
bosses, and crushing human skulls .
Great One's Wisdom - "Fragments of the lost
wisdom of the Great Ones, beings that might be
described as gods. Use to gain Insight.
At Byrgenwerth, Master Willem had an epiphany:
"We are thinking on the basest of planes. What we
need, are more eyes."
Madman's Knowledge - "Skull of a madman
touched by the wisdom of the Great Ones. Use to
gain Insight.

Making contact with eldritch wisdom is a blessing,
for even if it drives one mad, it allows one to serve
a grander purpose, for posterity."
Master Willem's epiphany about "needing more
eyes" reappears on the item description of Iosefka's
Umbilical Cord.
"A great relic, also known as the Cord of the Eye.
Every infant Great One has this precursor to the
umbilical cord."
Provost Willem sought the Cord in order to elevate
his being and thoughts to those of a Great One, by
lining his brain with eyes.
The only choice, he knew, if man were to ever
match their greatness."
"Use to gain Insight and, so they say, eyes on the
inside, although no one remembers what that truly
entails."

There is evidence to suggest that this search for
"eyes on the inside" has to be taken literally .
Accursed Brew - "Skull of a local from the
violated fishing village.
The inside of the skull was forcibly searched for
eyes, as evidenced by innumerable scratches and
indentations.
No wonder the skull became stewed in curses.
They who offer baneful chants. Weep with them, as
one in trance"
Before entering the Research Hall, the player must
ritualistically insert an Eye Pendant into the skull of
a stone patient .
"Plant eyes on our brains, to cleanse our beastly
idiocy." - Micolash, Host of the Nightmare

"Provost Willem sought the Cord in order to elevate
his being and thoughts to those of a Great One, by
lining his brain with eyes.
The only choice, he knew, if man were to ever
match their greatness." - Iosefka's Umbilical Cord
Brains aligned with eyes can indeed be found on
supernatural beings like Amygdala and The
Winter Lanterns , though what this entails is
unclear.
Aside from Byrgenwerth and Micolash ,
the Witches of Hemwick also avidly search for
"eyes".
Such Witches are the elite versions of Eye Collecting
Witches, known for their eye-scooping attacks .
These enemies look very similar, but Witches have
impressive powers like summoning Mad
Ones and casting Arcane spells .

Eye Collectors only ever have access to physical
attacks, and though they are physically much the
same as The Witches, their clothing is different.
While Witches are distinguished by the countless
eyes adorning their garb - Eye
Collectors only ever wear shells on their
clothing .
This suggests that collecting eyes is genuinely
beneficial to the Witches, granting them
supernatural powers and Insights unknown.
There's a possible relation between Witches of
Hemwick and The Fishing Hamlet, a place that also
carries connections to "eye collecting" .
The Fishing Hamlet is abound with
shells . Shells, for some strange reason
appear on Eye Collectors , and they appear
on Hamlet residents .

Strange, eyelike eggs , are harvested by The
Hamlet Fishmen, making them eye collectors as
well. The searching of skulls could be a native
tradition.
The Fishwitch has a similar appearance to a Witch
of Hemwick , and like them summons dark
ghosts , which don't disappear upon the
witch's death.
The Witches of Hemwick also bear resemblance
to The Thing That Drifted Ashore , a creation by
Junji Ito, which I believe inspired the dead Kos.
There's another association to be found in The
Witches of Hemwick being hunchbacks , a
condition that characterizes Hamlet Fishmen as
well .
There are reasons to believe Fishing
Hamlet was based on the Aztec heaven "Tlalocan",
which is described as the heaven that accepts the
physically deformed.

This theory presuposes a link
between Kos and the Aztec water goddess
"Chalchiuhtlicue", mother of "He Who Comes From
The Land of The Sea-Slug Shell "
The residents may be collecting eyes because they
make suitable hosts for phantasms .
Those phantasms would explain the power of
a Witch of Hemwick .
Apart from "eyes of the inside" Insight has some
relation to "phantasms". The item description on
the Milkweed rune reads:
"A Caryll rune envisioned by Adeline, patient of
the Research Hall.

A translation of the inhumane, sticky whispers that
reveal the nature of a celestial attendant.
Those who swear this oath become a Lumenwood
that peers towards the sky, feeding phantasms in its
luscious bed.
Phantasms guide us and lead us to further
discoveries." - Milkweed
Empty Phantasm Shell is a Hunter Tool that
adds Arcane damage to your weapon.
"Empty invertebrate shell that is said to be a
familiar of a Great One.
The Healing Church has discovered a great variety
of invertebrates, or phantasms, as they are called.
Shells with slime still harbour arcane power, and

can be rubbed on weapons to imbue them with
their strength." - Empty Phantasm Shell
Another phantasm/invertebrate is the Augur of
Ebrietas. This blue-green slug can be used to
summon its master, Ebrietas.
"Remnant of the eldritch Truth encountered
at Byrgenwerth.
Use phantasms, the invertebrates known to be the
augurs of the Great Ones, to partially summon
abandoned Ebrietas.
The initial encounter marked the start of an inquiry
into the cosmos from within the old labyrinth, and
led to the establishment of the Choir." - Augur of
Ebrietas

A Call Beyond is a phantasm that can be used to
create a small exploding star.
"One of the secret rites of the Choir.
Long ago, The Healing Church used phantasms to
reach a lofty plane of darkness, but failed to make
contact with the outer reaches of the cosmos.
The rite failed to achieve its intended purpose, but
instead created a small exploding star, now a
powerful part of the Choir's arsenal.
At times, failure is the mother of invention." - A Call
Beyond

Finally, the Pearl Slug is a Ritual Material found
within the labyrinth. They are familiars of the "left-
behind" Great Ones.
"Material used in a Holy Chalice rite.
Of the all the strange lifeforms that reside in the
nooks and crannies of the old labyrinth, the slugs
are clear signs of the left-behind Great Ones." -
Pearl Slug
What are phantasms?
"Phantasm" means as much as "hallucination" or
"illusion". It can also be used to mean "an
apparition", "a specter" or "a ghost".

By illustration, a "phantasmagoria" was a form of
horror theatre that existed from the 18th to the
20th century.
Its operants would use "magical lanterns" and rear-
projection to create scary images onto screens or
smoke.
The more resourceful practicioners used actors,
mirrors, sound effects and everything possible to
create a convincing spectacle.
Aside from mirages, "phantasm" is also an old
scholarly term used to refer to "mental images",
meaning images that exist within a person's mind.
Such phantams refer to visual-auditive-tactile
information derived from memory, or created
through imagination. They have a distinct sensory
connotation.
Phantasms may be considered opposed to
"abstract", "non-visual" ideas. As such they're in no
way directly related to reason, math or logic.

Neither are phantasms considered to be any kind
information that is present in the mind, but can't
be directly experienced as such.
It's possible that these phantasm-invertebrates are
rather something like "dreams" or "fantasies", more
like experiences than ideas.
If true, "The Choir using phantasms to reach a lofty
plane of darkness", could mean that they were
using "dreams" and "fantasies" to reach a lofty
plane of darkness.
This actually fits very well with the importance of
dreams in Bloodborne and the work of Lovecraft.
The Choir didn't reach The Eldritch Truth through
rigorous logic, they reached it through astral
projection, nightmares and hallucination.
If these phantasms are "hallucinations" and
"fantasy", and The Choir used them to gain Insight,

one may be led to think that these insights are
false.
The "left-behind Great Ones" could be
like jinns or demons - evil magicians that can
manipulate the senses. There's another possibility as
well.
Dreams and fantasy have always been profound
sources of inspiration. They can enrich our lives and
they can advance our knowledge.
Those who wish to teach, or explain anything,
should know that many of our most abstract
principles are best encapsulated as an image.
As such, dreams and fantasies can indeed be
augurs of an "Eldritch Truth", one that may go
beyond imagination.
Lovecraft wrote about a dimension called "The
Dreamlands", a vast network of realms that can
be entered via dreams.

Somewhat like The Matrix, a death in The
Dreamlands creates a shock, the result of which can
mean physical death.
A dreamer can also learn to control the dream,
becoming very powerful in the process. So much so,
that one could create cities and people out
of nothing.
Unlike The Matrix, time flows differently in the
dream than it does outside of it. One hour
on Earth represents a week or more in The
Dreamlands.
http://www.yog-
sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Dreamlands
"The Dreamlands have its own pantheon known as
the Great Ones, but they resemble powerful
immortals rather than true gods.

Ordinary humans can wound, deceive, and seduce
them. Their dominion is protected, however, from
mortal challengers by the dread Other Gods.
The messenger of the Other Gods is Nyarlathotep.
He's known to treat the Other Gods and the Great
Ones alike with evident contempt.
Otherwise, the rest of the deities of the mythos,
who figure prominently in Lovecraft's other writings
(such as the Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods),
have little interest in or influence over
the Dreamlands."
It's easy to imagine how The Nightmares and The
Hunter's Dream may also be something like The
Dreamlands.
Lesser known is that the other areas, while not
named after dreams, display bizarre natural
anomalies more akin to a dream than a physical
world.

These anomalies are not only otherworldy, they are
also inconsistent across areas. A full list of them will
be presented in the future.
If a bizarre natural phenomenon appears in all areas
of a universe, it likely still belongs to a single
coherent world, albeit a bizarre one.
But oddities that are inconsistent across space and
time, indicate a universe where the natural laws
themselves are inconstant.
The idea of a dream helps explain how such a
universe might work. Another possibility is that the
world is itself unformed.
An unformed universe is one were natural
constants are replaced by fundamental chaos. This
creates a number of possibilities.
This could be the natural state of an infant universe.
It could also point to a universe that is dying,
disintegrating as result of chaos' march to victory.

What does it mean to acquire Insight?
Phantasms are invertebrates, and phantasms are like
dreams, dreams may be used to reach The Eldritch
Truth.
Bloodborne "Insight" leads to "eldritch wisdom" and
madness. It is accumulated and it lower resistance
to Frenzy.
These phantasms, who are like living illusions, may
very well be the "Insights" that lead to both
madness and "eldritch wisdom".
If true, then what does it mean to
accumulate Insight? What does it mean to reach
eldritch wisdom through illusion?

The answer to this may lie in how "phantasms" are
the opposite of "objective observations". Both are
sensory impressions, but one is true and the other
false.
An old idea about demons is that they adhere to
inversion. To demons, right is wrong, lies are truth,
order is chaos and beauty is hideous.
In a demonic world, it may be required to look for
truth in the illusionary. It's also possible that, that
which is considered "the truth", is based on such
illusions.
Such thinking about "evil" and demons, fits well
with the gods of Lovecraft. These evil gods, who
stemmed from chaos - followed a logic antithetical
to life and order
Hideous beyond human understanding, only
madmen would ever follow them. Naturally, that
meant they drove many insane, their followers
included.

Because the very sight of them drove one mad,
only the confused ramblings of the insane could
tell you anything about them.
The Illusionary As The Reality Of Demons
Oh, don't you worry. Whatever happens... You may
think it all a mere bad dream... - Blood Minister
Demons are defined by their opposition to faith
and God. They despise his creation, which they seek
to pervert, and they are fond of lies and deception.
Another idea about demons is that they are
ingrained in the material, the transient world of the
senses, which precedes the ultimate worlds
of heaven and hell.
Black magic, produced through pacts with demons,
may allow a magician control over the material
world, at the expense of damning his soul in the
afterlife.

Demons seek to pervert humans by offering them
the material illusions of glamour, hedonism and
authority, or magic with which to pervert the
natural world.
Berserk, one the dominant sources of inspiration
behind the Souls series, portrays exactly this kind of
demon, pure evil offering fantastic
possibilities .
The creatures making these offerings appear only
within an illusion, a black vortex , at times
posing as an eclipse , at times posing as a
surreal edifice .

"Perhaps you've seen it, maybe in a dream.
A murky, forgotten land.
A place where souls may mend your ailing mind."
The Souls universe harbors its own demonic vortex,
shown in the DS2 Intro Cinematic . It's a
popular theory that the vortex represents "The
Abyss".

The Abyss is a body from DS1, a giant, bottomless
hole , found beneath "New Londo", the city of
men. It is the home of Primordial Serpent
Kaathe .
In DS2, the vortex forms under the light of a blood
moon , which likely relates to Bloodborne, and
especially to the nightmarish Unseen Village,
Yahar'gul .
In Berserk, the vortex appears when a behelith is
triggered . A Behelith triggers when its owner
lusts for inhuman power , and wants to
ascend into a demon.
Demon's Souls offers a similar story, in which a
paranormal entity, capable of bending reality, turns
humans into Demons. This entity is named "The Old
One ".
The Old One was likely inspired by Berserk's "Idea
of Evil ", also called "The God of The Abyss ",
a gigantic demon incubator, calling itself God .

Rather than a vortex, The Old One emits a colorless
deep fog , which accompanies his Demons ,
and may be what warps reality as to allow "Soul
Arts".
This deep fog may be alike or identical to The
Nightmare Fog of Yharnam . "Fog" also
marks Messengers and Nightmare
dimensions .
Creatures very similar to Messengers appear in
Berserk , honoring Griffith. The scene's nigh
identical to The Hunter's first meeting with The
Messengers .
"Ahh, the little ones, inhabitants of the dream...
They find hunters like yourself, worship, and serve
them. Speak words, they do not, but still, aren't
they sweet?" - Plain Doll
The mist may well be what drags humans into The
Dream and Nightmare realms, which qualify as false

realities filled with demons and other paranormal
beings.
There's further reason to believe that Nightmare
Fog evolved from Demon's Souls, as one, old -
"cosmic " - version of the fog, matches The Old
One's artwork .
The world that absorbs the player in DS2 may be
such a demon reality. This dream or nightmare
could be like Berserk , meaning it serves to
"ascend" the player.
In Berserk, "The Abyss" is a spiritual realm of human
consciousness, so these worlds that are Nightmares
or Dreams, may also be The Abyss and the
vortex .
The Abyssal boss "High Lord Wolnir " was
enveloped by mist in early concept art , and his
cup contained mist , which was later changed to
darkness .

High Priestess Emma refers of the worlds of The
Lords of Cinder as "churning homes", as if these
were akin to a liquid, a gas, or some
elusive dreamworld.
"Ah hah hah ha! Ooh! Majestic! A hunter is a
hunter, even in a dream. But, alas, not too fast! The
nightmare swirls and churns unending!" - Micolash,
Host of The Nightmare
Micolash refers to The Nightmare as something that
is "churning unending", and being the host of a
Nightmare, he may just represent what a Lord of
Cinder really is.
Lords of Cinder rule incredibly disparate worlds, the
skies of which don't match , and which
fail to be connected in a geographically believable
way.
Perhaps the act of "linking the fire" turns undead
into "heroes", the kings and champions of their own

worlds. Perhaps that's what Gwyn had carried out
before DS1 began.
In Berserk, such ascension requires a blood
sacrifice , hence The Mark Of Sacrifice , which
was used in conceiving The Darksign and The
Hunter's Mark .
Lord of Cinder "Aldrich" shoots arrows that
resemble The Mark of Sacrifice , and the attack
itself , resembles Void branding The Band of The
Hawk .
Griffith, in ways, mirrors Gwyn, they're both
conquerors , they're both associated with fire
, castles and faithful, undead
knights .
Both are viewed very positively in their respective
worlds , both are linked to the color
white, Gwyn in fact means "white", a prefix
bestowed upon all his children.

Gwyn is one of five beings with "Lord Souls". The
five deific creatures mirror Berserk's Godhand , a
pentad of five Demon Kings, one of which is
Griffith.
By Comparison - The Dark Souls Pentad

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