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]

"The Sky and the Cosmos are one!" This quote confuzzled me at first. I interpreted it as "the sky and space are one", which was really out of place at the time. Little did I know this quote was actually a pretty big deal.. Here we stand, feet planted in the Earth, but might the Cosmos be very near to us, only just above our heads? Today, we will be talking about the Church, but not [i]just[/i] the Church, but about Oedon, and the Choir. Now, for a "Church" it's a bit strange how we never really hear very much signs of a god, or gods. Well, that makes sense, actually. Most of the encounters with the Church involve its ins and outs, and the Church wasn't [i]really[/i] a religious place. And yet.. You've heard the name Oedon before, hm? Don't lie to me! Yes you have! Oedon Tomb Oedon Chapel Oedon Writhe Formless Oedon The first place we encounter upon emtering Cathedral Ward is this chapel dedicated to some guy named Oedon. Oedon apparently also has a tomb. At first, you woulf think he's dead, but Runes say otherwise. "The Great One Oedon, lacking in form, exists only in voice, and is symbolized by this Rune." It's partially just speculation, really, but the way I see it, Oedon was the central figure of worship to the Church.. And "both Oedon and his inadvertant worshippers surreptitiously seek the precious blood..". That is a very.. Interesting sentence, don't you think? Inadvertant means unintentional, and surreptitious means stealthy. This means Oedon has some unintentional followers who stealthily seek blood.. Sounds like a certain Workshop to me.. But, how are they unadvertantly following Oedon? Well, Hunters come follow the Church, which worships Oedon, and they acted in stealth at first. This likely doesn't apply to most modern Hunters, but anyway.. Let's focus on the word [b]both[/b]. Oedon wants "precious blood". As a Great One, he probably doesn't need the Old Blood.. For himself anyway. There are 3 interpretations I got from this; 1. He wants bloodshed 2. He wants the Blood Moon/Red Moon I think 1 is the most likely.. How convenient that men start turning into Beasts, from a mysterious Blood found from an unknown source in the labirynth, hm? Oedon also plays a major role in the story, but we'll get to that some other time. The Choir.. The upper echlons of the Church.. The Church elite.. It's ironic, really. Laurence split from Byrgenwerth due to believing Blood>Insight, but the Church elite reverted back to a style resembling Willem's teachings.. The Choir originated in a place called the Orphanage. During Laurence's time children either went here, or were taken here, to become great scholars of the Church. Given the name, most of the original inhabitants were likely orphans. Originally it was probably a small institution, inferior to the School of Mensis. But, as Micolash plotted behind the scenes, the Orphanage discovered something amazing in the tombs beneath Yharnam.. The Pthumerian city of Isz. Isz seemed to have ascended, through means of insight.. Or perhaps, it was simply abandoned by the Great Ones who were once there. Either way, really, the Orphanage stumbled upon something amazing; the Great One Ebrietas. Abandoned, left behind, and in mourning, Ebrietas probably felt happy, when the soon-to-be Choir accepted her. Through her teachings, they created the Augur of Ebrietas, and she was happy to assist them. But they wanted more.. They wanted to fully commune with her, not just hear her whispers.. To that end, they required test subjects. By this time, the Church's three branches were formed. The elite Choir, the militaristic Workshop, and the secretive School of Mensis. As the elites of the city, they were easily able to get ample subjects. In a dangerous city of beasts, wouldn't it be safer to leave your children with the savior Church, after all? "The Choir stumbled upon an epiphany very suddenly, and quite by accident. Here we stand, feet planted in the earth, but might the Cosmos be very close, only just above our heads?" -Cosmic Eye Watcher Badge As they experimented on the children of Yharnam, their research yielded many tools such as the Blacksky Eye, and A Call Beyond, but their research culminated in the Celestial Emissary, able to commune with Great Ones.. And there was a Great One very close indeed.. "The Sky and the Cosmos are one!" Oedon existed everywhere, and nowhere all at once. He gave the Church their tainted Old Blood, guided the Choir to grand heights, and caused Yharnam to collapse upon itself.. Why? For blood? Or maybe.. He had something to protect.. But what? And from whom? And how did he plan to protect it? [i]"Ah.. The Cosmos of course! Let us sit about, amd speak feverishly.."[/i] [spoiler]disclaimer: this post had a lot more speculation than the other one[/spoiler]

Aifos will give you the best answer. He's the BB aficionado around these parts...I've been reading quite a bit on the lore and it's definitely interesting to say the least.

Told ya. Aifos will handle it.

Bloodboop