Day 10
I had some leftover business at Castle Morne, so I went back and killed all the misbegotten on the huge burning pile of... whatever. Beyond that was the armory, where I got the Claymore. This was the last piece of equipment required for the Berserker Build, which gave me some guidance in the first few days.
Since then, I have grown fond of the Hookclaws and my Rotten Puppy. I'll call him Roppy. Plus, I have the Erdtree's Favor and Twinblade Talisman equipped, which I had found when I was first here. I have to get close with claws in both hands and land a chain attack, but with a little luck, this builds up blood loss and also triggers the Twinblade. Worked perfectly on the Leonine Misbegotten two days ago. Roppy takes the boss' attention and also inflicts scarlet rot while I grind it from the back. By the time Roppy is gone, there is just a little health left that is handled by scarlet rot, while I keep my distance and land one or two hits when there is an opening.
There was still a lot to discover on the Weeping Peninsula, so I tracked back and found the Impaler's Catacombs. Opening the boss arena was fun. Imps are causing me fewer problems, but I needed the shield here. These annoyingly agile little pests build up blood loss. To my luck, the boss here was another Erdtree Burial Watchdog, similar to the first larger enemy I killed, and four imps all attacking at the same time. It took Roppy and me a few rounds to kill them before I could focus on the boss, dodging his moves and punishing him with blood-loss combos. Wasn't easy, but it worked. Left the place with Demi-Human Ashes and some Grave Glovewort, just what I needed to upgrade Roppy at Roderika.
Day 11
Once I upgraded Roppy in Roundtable Hold I went back to the Weeping Peninsula. I started my venture west of the main road and quickly reached a Minor Erdtree and, next to it, an Erdtree Avatar. This was a great fight. The boss had great moves, but I got him on the first try using my strategy. Found Opaline Bubbletear (damage reduction) and Crimsonburst Crystal Tear (health over time) for my mixed Physick.
Then, further east, I started hearing a bell. Not the faint tingling of a Teardrop Scarab, but something bigger and louder. Looking around I spotted it. A Walking Mausoleum. I heard that Iside one could duplicate a remembrances. But how to get in? I started hitting its legs, and some white stuff started to come off. After a while, it collapsed so I could enter. I duplicated the Remembrance of the Grafted, I probably want both boss weapons at some point.
Next to where the mausoleum landed, there was the entrance to the Tombsward Cave. Inside, I found lots of poison, rats, giant rats, flowers, and a huge boss flower, Miranda the Blighted Bloom. It was similar to what I saw back in Limgrave near Waypoint Ruins. I should probably check, more so since I managed to kill this on my first try. I got the Viridian Amber Medallion. Nice.
Day 12
Today, I continued my journey on the Weeping Peninsula. I knew there were a couple more dungeons to explore, but first I visited the Fourth Church of Marika for a Sacred Tear.
Then I followed the coast, full of zombies, to the Tower of Return. Why is it called that? I climbed to the top to kill the foot soldier with the ballista and found a chest, which teleported me to the Divine Bridge at Leyndell Royal Capital—the Tower of Return. Now I get it.
The first and only enemy here was a Golem, and its first hit killed me. Luckily, I found a site of grace just outside and escaped back to where I came from. I went back to the Tower, climbed to the top, and there was the chest again. It was closed, so I opened it and returned to the Capital. Again. The Tower of Return... What was I expecting? sigh
Back at the merchant's shack I decided not to return to the tower. Instead, I went east and found a strange circular area with stone worms around it. I saw one like it before near the bridge coming from Limgrave, but it looked scary. So, this place was an Evergaol, some kind of interdimensional prison cell with a powerful entity within trapped for eternity. I had to activate it with Stonesword Keys. I entered and got killed. I appeared just outside, I could even collect my lost runes without entering again. Now that I knew who the inmate was, I could enter prepared and managed to kill the Ancient Hero of Zamor, and received Radagon's Scarseal.
Further along, I found the Tombsward Catacombs. This place had skeletons everywhere, fire traps, and lots of upgraded materials. One of the rooms was blocked by grey mist. I should get back here with Stonesword Keys.
The boss was a strange black phantom creature, a Cemetery Shade that kept teleporting around the area. That was the most difficult about it. When I finally got close for a few hits, it died quickly. My reward was Lhutel the Headless Spirit Ashes.
On the map, I saw another church up north, so I went there. I found a Sacred Tear and had a brief chat with Melina while resting at the site of grace.
I entered the nearby forest and found some ruins swarming with Demi-humans. In the middle was a huge one that could do magic. On my second try, I rode in on Torrent buffed with Mixed Physick and managed to kill it. The little ones were all cowering in fear after that. I got the Demi-Human Queen's Staff... so the big one was their queen, and the Crystal Burst sorcery she was using.
Deeper in the forest I found another of those candle holders. After touching it, a ghost of a noble starts to walk, leaving glowing footprints on its way. It led me to the Earthbore Cave. Upon entering, I saw a chest, but as I stepped closer, the ground gave away, and I fell into a pit full of giant rats. I escaped them to find a huge Runebear towering over me. I killed it and got the Spelldeake Talisman, which increases protection against magic damage. Back at the beginning, I found the chest, but as you could expect, there was nothing really valuable in there, just a pickled turtle neck.
I left the forest south and found the Morne Tunnel. It was some kind of mine, full of smithing stones and misbegotten. The boss was a Scaly Misbegotten and killing it earned me a Rusted Anchor, a strange choice for a weapon.
The only thing left for the day was to return to the Tower of Return and finally clear the place. This time, I managed to defeat the mounted Godrick Knight and leave the teleporter chest alone. I had my revenge, but not much loot. I killed a huge land octopus nearby and called it a day. Tomorrow, I'll leave the Weeping Peninsula behind.
Day 13
I remembered another Evergaol in Limgrave, on the right side of the bridge to the Weeping Peninsula. I traveled there, and it was active. There was no need for Stonesword Keys here. However, the prisoner, Bloodhound Knight Darrivill, was tough as hell. He was jumping and shadow-stepping while slashing with his great sword, inflicting blood loss. It was almost impossible to reach him with the Hookclaws without getting killed. I dodged around like crazy, replenishing my health whenever possible, and after several tries, I got lucky and managed to get close three times, aggressively dodging toward him while he was attacking. My reward: his very own Bloodhound's Fang greatsword, with blood loss. Oh yeah, totally worth it. (I could have used some help from an NPC summon here, but at the time I wasn't even aware of the existence of Blaidd.)
There was one more on my map, Stormhill Evergaol. The entity in it was a Crucible Knight... he was tough, I mean very tough. After a few miserable attempts, I decided to come back later. (Or never?) The reward I would get is a spell I can live without. For now. (Or forever?... Btw, there is a great Carbot Animation about this particular boss.)
While I was there, I looked around the fields southwest of the castle. There was a slumbering Golem, that I managed to kill and a side entrance to the castle gates, where I found the Arrow's Reach Talisman.
After all this, I finally decided to check the Lakes. I started out at the Church of Irith where I met Thops, a sorcerer scholar who was locked out when the Academy magically blocked their gates after the Shattering. He was begging for some runes, so I gave him some. I set out in the water until I found the map of the region. Then I went to shore east and found a waygate among the ruins.
What could go wrong, I entered and was teleported all the way to the end of the road, deep within the region. There was a strange magical door with a blue, glowing pattern, but I decided not to go that way. Instead, I started to fight some enemies but wasn't careful. I was killed with 11k runes on me, and the last site of grace was way back south. I had to find my way back to the waygate to reach the point of my death, without accidentally being killed. (I didn't know at the time that a site of grace was just steps away from where they waygate took me.)
Somehow, I managed to get there and started backtracking on Torrent. On my way, I found the map of this region and about three sites of grace.
Back near the collapsed bridge to Limgrave, I fought a troll and found the Treespear in the back of a carriage. I also met some four-arm enemies who were slashing like crazy in all directions. I left them be for now. (a.k.a. I ran for my life as fast as I could)
I came to know that Ash of War: Golden Vow is dropped by a Godrick Knight near the Limgrave Colosseum. I went there, where I was immediately invaded by Recusant Henricus, but I handled him just fine. He dropped the Hammer Talisman. I found the Knight south of the building and defeated him while riding Torrent. Done.
I decided to go back to Liurnia again, but now the western side, which was yet to be mapped. I started my journey northwest from the Church of Irith. Through the swamp I arrived at the Village of the Albinaurics, these poor souls, First-Generation Albinaurics and their village was devestate by cursemongers, or so I heard from Albus, an old albinauric disguised as a pot. He gave me the right half of the Haligtree Sacred Medallion before dying and asked me to bring it to an albinauric woman named Latenna. While exploring this cursed village, I met Nepheli Loux, who was outraged about the fate of these people and his father's involvement. Further on I ran into an Omenkiller, who I managed to beat and receive the Crucible Knot Talisman. (I could have summoned Nepheli Loux for this fight, but I didn't see her summon sign.)
I left the village north and found the Converted Tower. I had to climb the outer wall and jump across with Torrent to reach the top where I found a Memory Stone. Further north, I arrived at the roots of a Minor Erdtree and the Erdtree Avatar guarding it. This wasn't as easy as the previous Avatar, but I managed to give Roppy enough time to build up scarlet rot, and then I just had to stay away until the creature was dead. My rewards were the Cerulean Crystal Tear and the Ruptured Crystal Tear.
I continued my journey north and wanted to rest at the nearby shack. When I arrived, I saw Edgar from Castle Morne was home. Hey buddy, how is your revenge? Oh, my god, he is invading me! Poor guy went crazy with revenge. He fought well but still fell, dropping his Banished Knight's Halberd+8 and some Raw Meat Dumplings. He had some lying around in the shack, too. This thing is disgusting. It restores half of your health but also inflicts poison. No wonder it can't be crafted.
Past the shack, I found Cuckoo's Evergaol and imprisoned within Bols, Carian Knight. He was a troll with a huge sword and a helmet, casting Greatblade Phalanx, sending three magic sword projectiles... well this is a sight. With all my available buffs, this fight needed several tries, but I felt I had a chance, so I kept pushing, and voilá, my Hookclaws are still amazing.
I followed the road, fought some agitated Spirit Jellyfish, and found a Jellyfish Shield. I was walking around with a huge translucent blob on my back from then on. From here I didn't stop until Caria Manor. There, I was dealt a bunch of hands, that I had to deal with. These creatures frequently drop Somber Smithing Stones. This place was full of magic and dangerous enemies like Raya Lucaria Soldier puppets, Direwolves, and even a Troll Knight, like the one who I fought in the Evergaol. I might not be strong enough for this place yet. (At the time I didn't know I was just a few steps away from the boss, but leaving to get stronger was a good decision.)