Previously on Dark Souls: Morgan began slogging through the sewer level, and as expected, had all sorts of rat-related fun.
Already itching for a reprieve from the stanky sewers, I decided that I was going to adventure somewhere else for a while. Namely, back to the Undead Parish, where I could buy an ACME Home Weapon Smithing Kit from that one blacksmith guy. I could improve my own armor already, but found myself wanting for the ability to upgrade weapons as I saw fit.
Just as I was about to leave the Depths, however, I noticed that there was a doorway hidden behind some crates in the kitchen. I smashed the crates up good, and wandered through the doorway to see what was back therAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
A hole. A long, terrifying hole is what was back there. As if it wasn’t bad enough that I had almost died from the fall, the place I’d fallen into was a small ledge overlooking the giant rat’s room. This turned out to be a blessing, however, as I found a rather nifty Spider Shield on a body. Also I was in the perfect position to murder the giant rat without putting myself in danger. I lobbed a few firebombs to soften him up, and then lept off the ledge and finished it off with a plunging attack.
I scoured the area for treasure, and then ducked into a waterway that seemed to be the only way out of the giant rat’s room. Unfortunately, that turned out to be another, even longer hole. As I was falling, I decided that if I survived, I was going to start watchign where I stepped.
The fall left be with only a sliver of life, but that wasn’t even the half of it. The room I’d fallen into was infested with the most horrifying monstrosities that I’d come face-to-face with yet. These quadruped beasts had huge, cartoonish eyes plastered to the tops of their heads, and barfed out a disgusting black liquid from their oversized mouths. The closest thing I could liken them to was some sort of horrible mutant frog.
I ran as fast as I could from the monsters, but it seemed that around every corner there was another one or two of them waiting for me. Eventually I put enough distance between them and myself to chug some Estus, and then finally faced them down. The frog-beasts, thankfully, were pretty fragile and went down with a single strong blow. Once I’d cleared the area, I picked up a fancy-lloking ring off a corpse and started trying to make my way back out of the sewer.
The deepest part of the sewer was a twisting maze of corridors and waterways. I was startign to panic, as I was low on Estus and having a hard time navigating the halls that all looked the same. It was here that something very odd happened: I was invaded.
This was unusual because I was offline, so there was no way any other players could invade me, right? But here I was, and there was the invader: the Knight… Kirk? What the hell kind of name for a fantasy character is Kirk?
I was too shocked by the sudden invasion to raise myshield, however, and Kirk immediately skewered me on his sword. I turned and ran, hoping to get to a safe distance where I could drink some Estus. It was difficult though, as the sewer halls were cramped and Kirk appeared to be very driven in his goal of murdering me. I managed to confuse him with a short staircase though, and that gave me enough time to recompose myself.
The fight with Kirk was not an easy one. He fought very similarly to the many knights I’d already defeated, but he was much more aggressive and had enough life to shrug off quite a few hits. I eventually did take him down, but at the cost of the last of my Estus. Now, getting back to that bonfire was of dire importance.
A few frog-men later, I emerged into a large hall. On one end, I found a massive gate and a peddler who informed me that it led to a place called Blighttown. I seemed to remember the first fella I met in Firelink saying something about Blighttown after I’d rung the bell in the Undead Parish. This must be where I needed to go, but the gate was quite locked. The key had to be in the sewers somewhere..
A staircase from the large hall led up to what seemed like a castle wall overlooking a massive underground courtyard. Off in the distance, though, there was a crack along the wall with sunlight pouring in. It was a welcome sight after spending so much time navigating by nothing but torchlight. I tried descending to the courtyard, but the final doorway was barred by a Fog Gate, and in my condition, the only thought that passed through my mind was to run as far away from it as I could.
A few more slimes and some rats tried to stop me, but I did make it back to the sewer bonfire. Refreshing my Estus Flask, I steeled my resolve and pledged to myself that this time, there would be no distractions. I would head straight for the Undead Parish, not stopping for anything but to kill any monsters who tried to get in my way. I’d had more than enough excitement in the last hour to last me a lifetime.
Tune in next week for Part 10: Out of the Sewers (For Now)