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]