So, Anyway...

...As I was saying.

First off, an apology to anyone who actually reads this nonsense - a couple of things cropped up recently that kept me from playing/writing.

Ahem.

When we last left the intrepid adventurer Deadmeat, she was fresh from slaying the Spider/Woman/Fire Demon/Mental thing deep in the bowels of Blight town, and we had rung the second bell. The massive gate near Andre had opened, so I figured it was time to skip on over there - after making a quick stop at Firelink Shrine to use the Firekeeper soul I'd found.

Woah. Shit has gone DOWN at Firelink Shrine.
— Chris Spann (@cs87) March 14, 2013

Anastasia was missing, as was Lautrec. More worrying (but a very helpful clue as to her whereabouts) was the fact that all Anastasia's stuff was in a pile in her cell, and examining it just brought up a message box with the word "Dead" in it.

Fucking... well, fucking shit. And she's a firekeeper, which means that- yep.

The Firelink Shrine Bonfire has been extinguished.

But it's ok, because a giant buck-toothed snake has burst through the bottom of that pool of water around the corner. So, y'know. Every cloud and all that.

I'm not entirely sure what I think about that, from a player's point of view: I mean, all the NPCs gather there, and it's clearly supposed to be a hub; a safe place for the player to use as a base camp - but with the fire gone, it means running back and forth between Andre and here, doesn't it? I mean, I know Dark Souls is punishing, but that feels like the game just being a little bit of a dick. Yes, Lautrec's creepy laughter and the fact that he spent so much time sitting there just watching her should have given me a clue as to what was going to happen, but I'm still going to exercise my right to feel a tiny bit butthurt about it for a while, thanks very much.

Anyhow, no use crying over spilled firekeeper blood; the tooth-penis says I need to go to Sen's Fortress. Let's hope the fire by Andre's still lit, eh?