Even so many years after the events of the original Dark Souls, (DS1) Allfather Lloyd will be forever known for his obstinace as the Way of White’s leader. The old man’s Sword and Shield Rings represent the law and social status his high priests preserved in the church capital of Thorolund in DS1, boosting attack and defense while unharmed — essentially rewarding his followers for being proactive in enforcing his rigid society. Indeed, Lloyd himself took the initiative when his knights allegedly failed to live up to their code. As to be expected of chivalric clergy, their innocence or guilt was judged in honorable duels where God would decide. In this case, Lloyd personally dispensed the sword of law determining these contests, made brief by amulets stripping the knights of the added magical protection that he originally provided. There is a certain irony in the knights, who used Lloyd’s charms to seal Undead’s ability to heal with Estus to level the playing field, being subject to this same principle. But it exemplifies Lloyd’s strictness through and through.
Ring given to knights who serve the Way of White. It is modeled on Chief God Lloyd’s sword of law.
Temporarily boosts attack power when HP is full.
But the Way of White’s Lloyd faith has now long since died out. The priests of Carim loudly assert: “For Lloyd was no more than a collateral relation and assumed himself Chief God.”
Tool that had been used in duels of judgement. Cancels all special effects within its effective range for a fixed time.
It is said that the judgement of Chief God Lloyd, who administered the sword of law, was left to a brief duel, and that Lloyd knights very much feared those.
At the same time, these items remind us of the Allfather’s exorbitance. Even as the knights feared suffering his even-handed wrath, all present bore witness to a solemn yet opulent ceremony. Simply compare the Duel Charm to the Undead Hunter Charm and one can see the excess of Lloyd’s pretensions. The sword and shield rings bear a likewise golden brightness conveying regality. After all, these were all for the highest Thorolund society had to offer, aristocrats Lloyd happily surrounded himself with. How could he not spare every expense? Just as his sword enforced the law of his church, his shield safeguarded the nobility of its hierarchy. And at the top of that extravagant pyramid sat he, the Lord to them all. The mere uncle of Anor Londo’s founding king wanted to preserve his newfound position of authority and importance, the morning star reiterating all the blood sometimes involved in its description. His “respect” for faith and tradition had been as self-serving as ever, force masked in formality.
While this is all helpful in reaffirming implications from DS1, it should come as no surprise to learn that Lloyd’s stranglehold on the church inevitably slipped through his fingers. The Way of White no longer has a cult to Lloyd, in charge or otherwise. We find no trace of his actual knights or high priests in the present era, with not so much as a mention of Thorolund. His faith has died out, just like how the Allfather himself, like so many other gods of Anor Londo, seems to have died. The Way of White Corona reaffirms the implication. The tale of this “ring of the white faith” (白教の輪) conjures white rings of light, the symbol of Lloyd. Indeed, its description ties the miracle to the similar aureoles manifesting after casting the church’s miracles in DS1. Since this mechanic which strengthened church miracles in the halos’ presence was implicitly tied to Lloyd’s magic, their absence in an era when he no longer reigns indicates the worst for his ultimate fate. Worse for the god still, he apparently died in disgrace.
Lost miracle of the Way of White. The white aureole cuts enemies to pieces and eventually returns to the caster.
It is said that once, in the age when the remnants of the gods ran deep, miracles of the Way of White coincided with aureoles. And those who remember believed that they would someday return.
The descriptions for his rings make clear that the church has become aware of Lloyd’s presumption to leadership when he was only a collateral relation. In other words, he was outed as illegitimate. This is reinforced by the Way of White Circlet we acquire from our graves should we be banned from playing online. Although the means and mechanics behind acquiring the item have no basis in the narrative, its description still highlight how it acts as a substitute for the sins we committed. And as indicated earlier, a white ring of light is Lloyd’s symbol; he is the one made to bear the sins of others. Why? Because he is already a sinner, deceiving all the faithful into thinking him their proper god to worship as most high after Gwyn’s death. All injustice can thus be laid at his feet. Without a proper claim to the role of Allfather, his followers likely abandoned him or were purged as heretics.
Item for playing online. Recovers connection to other worlds.
Those who have performed too many unjust actions in relation with those of other worlds will have their connection to the other worlds severed.
The Way of White circlet serves as a surrogate for those sins, but there may not always be a next time. Unjust actions should probably be strictly avoided.
There are some holdouts, of course. If the Corona miracle is a tale of Lloyd’s dominion over the Way of White, then the aureole eventually returning to the caster signals the scripture prophesying his own return to power. The miracle’s description does confirm the existence of those who still remember this era and believe in the rings’ return. However, the fact that it is a “lost” miracle to the church suggests that these steadfast believers in Lloyd are very few. We can only acquire it from a corpse in Ariandel, holding the sacred text close to the chest whilst kneeling before the altar in the corvian village church. This indicates that the holdouts, outcasts as they were, escaped into the painting world to evade persecution. Once again, there is a certain irony in worshipers of Lloyd’s orthodoxy finding refuge in a world of Velka’s heresy. But from the smile on the corpse’s face, they were content to trust in the god mankind had worshiped for so long. If only their faith wasn’t so misplaced.
Lokey Lore 