Previously on Dark Souls: Morgan left the sewers to explore a forest, nearly got pulverized by a high-pressure water blast, and fell off a cliff like a dork.
I was wary of heading back down into the Darkroot Basin, but I had to recover the large bundle of souls and few humanity points that I was toting around. It took me a while to spot my bloodstain, but I finally caught a bit of a break and was able to pick it up without drawing the attention of the Black Knight that had scared me off the cliff in the first place.
I trekked back up to Darkroot Garden, intent on discovering what the upper path held in store for me. I was a bit unnerved to learn that there were bottomless pits all over the place up there too, but there was a lot more solid ground to maneuver around on, and the weed enemies were a big joke compared to the Black Knight and the crystal golems.
Near the end of the trail I came across a huge door that appeared to be sealed with magic. I remembered noticing that Andrei was selling an amulet or something that was supposed to open a door deep in a forest, but it cost far more souls than I was willing to part with, and I didn’t want to know what was behind such a secure door anyway.
To the right of the door was a path leading downward, which led to a Fog Gate and a small clearing off to the side. In the centre of the clearing was a treasure box holding a pithy amount of souls. And then of course, the trap is sprung and three weed monsters ambush me. They are pitiful alone, but the team-up causes me a notable bit of damage. So I ran back to the bonfire in the Parish to heal up before going through the Fog Gate.
When I come back here a million updates later, I will discover a bonfire behind a false wall right by the sealed door. And then I will slap my forehead hard enough to knock myself off balance.
I headed back to the Fog Gate, and breathed a sigh of relief as it dissipated behind me. I wasn’t at a boss yet. I’m not sure why some Fog Gates are randomly scattered around like that; maybe just to psych players out. There were some big new enemies in the next area: stone soldiers. These guys are big and slow, but they hit hard and liked to cast spells that made me slow as well. There were a half dozen or so of them scattered around the large room, and they only caused trouble when they teamed up with the weed monsters.
Pretty drained from the fight, I turned to leave the area and saw… A huge, quivering tree. It stood out pretty plainly from all the other trees, and I had no idea what it’s deal was. So I swung my sword at it, and wouldn’t you know, the thing up and died like a monster. And that was it. Odd.
After a trip back to the Parish bonfire, I ran the statue-man room again, this time having taken slightly less damage. Moving on, I found another Fog Gate. Foolishly assuming it was another fake-out like the previous one, I stepped through and was horrified to see that it had not vanished behind me, and that I was now locked on the top of a rather thin wall. Then a massive butterfly showed up.
The Moonlight Butterfly attacked exclusively with magic shots. The first one wa a large burst that connected directly and cleaved off a goo two-thirds of my life bar, so I drank up two of my remaining Estus charges and decided that I’d have to play on the defensive to survive this battle. The boss was too far away to hit, so it’s not like I even had a choice. The Butterfly’s other shot was a spreader, which was easier to avoid than the large blast, and did less damage besides.
After dodging a few more shots, the Butterfly flew over the wall and came in for a landing on the side. Seeing my opening, I ran up to it and hit it with everything I had. I had taken it down to less than half of its HP when it resumed flight and hit me with another blast. I drank the last of the Estus and crossed my fingers that it would land again soon. It hit me with another magic bolt, and at that point, I’d die if I was hit with even the spread shot. It was down to the wire, and my heart skipped a beat with every shot I successfully dodged.
Finally the Butterfly landed again, and I murdered it with reckless abandon. My rewards were the Butterfly’s soul, and passage both forward and back. While it was risky, I decided to venture forward, and ascended another long stairwell. At the top was a dead end, but I did grab myself a Divine Ember (whatever that is) and a Watchtower Basement Key. When I was done pillaging, I started back down the stairwell but misstepped and tumbled down the shaft to my death. You Died.
After a short trip back to collect my souls, I started the hunt for the door that my new key would unlock.
Tune in next week for Part 12: Back to the Sewers