Lady Maria *Bloodborne*

The Great Aedon, though departed from this world, lives on in the form of a voice and in the very blood. He sired many descendants. Marriages between the Great Ones and human women have existed since time immemorial, since the dawn of the Pthumeru civilization. In ancient times, there were countless such marriages, but they all perished in the depths of the underground ruins of this forgotten civilization. The Great Amygdala The Great Amygdala is the most common of the Great Ones. Its projections can be seen throughout the nightmare, but within its own nightmare, it exists only once. The Great Amygdala appears as a damaged amygdala, illustrating the symptoms of Urbach-Witte disease. This manifests itself in damaged skin, scarring, and fragility, as seen on the Amygdala in her nightmare: part of the skin peels off, and her front pair of arms are easily severed. She uses them as weapons, perhaps because eyes or something resembling them have already emerged on her arms and chest. The Great Amygdala exhibits all the symptoms of amygdala damage, including Clover-Bucy syndrome. Unlike the other Great Beings, the Amygdala hides its eyes deep within the brain. The Great Amygdala is the most famous of the Great Beings. Slugs In the Bloodborne universe, these invertebrates are phantoms—synonymous with spirits and ghosts. Phantoms possess a special arcane power locked within their shells, particularly in the slime residue. Rubbing a weapon with this slime coats it with arcane power. Phantoms have a special connection with other phantoms. These invertebrates, which can be considered augurs of higher beings or phantoms, are used as intermediaries to summon a part of the higher being. Pthumeru The Pthumeru are an ancient race that existed long before the advent of Yharnam. All that remains of them are endless labyrinths filled with countless monsters. These labyrinths extend far underground, beneath the cities and squares of Yharnam, and no one knows where they begin or end. The ancient labyrinths were carved by the Pthumerians—beings with inhuman abilities who are said to have grasped the wisdom of a terrible truth. It is the blood drunk from a ritual chalice that allows one to break the ancient seal and enter the ancient labyrinths of a forgotten race. Perhaps the seal can only be opened by those with their blood. The Pthumerians were the guardians of the Great Ones and worshiped them. They attempted to transform their queen into a Great One, earning their wrath, being abandoned and rejected for attempting to rise to their level. Queen of Yharnam The Queen of Yharnam is the queen of Pthumeru, and the city of Yharnam is named after her. She endured much, and her cradle was guarded by a faithful nurse. She was one of the many wives of the Great Ones, with the only difference being that, unlike the others, she was the queen of Pthumeru. Her child is invisible, but its cries can be heard throughout the city if you have enough insight. From the moment the blood moon rises, its cries become audible to everyone. Her child died during an ectopic pregnancy because the Great One's fetus was too large for a human body. Blood of Monsters They once tried to use it for healing, but this only caused a plague of monsters.

In the world of Bloodborne, there exists a special substance known as coldblood, deadblood, or blood echoes. Unlike normal blood, it does not coagulate in air. However, in dead bodies or at low temperatures, it behaves like normal blood. Coldblood's value stems from the fact that it contains blood echoes—essentially the dying wills, hopes, and desires of the departed. It is this power that allows Hunters to perfect themselves and their weapons, and it is this power that they hunt. The blood of the Great Ones borders on celestial enlightenment, embodying the nightmarish will of blood and something incomprehensible. Great Ones: These are terrifying creatures, maddening in their very presence. Hailing from distant space, they are unknowable and bring with them a terrible insight that opens humanity's eyes to a terrible truth. The Great Ones exist beyond human understanding, occupying an entirely different stage of evolution. A single drop of their blood is akin to celestial enlightenment, divine guidance. The Great Ones' brains are particularly remarkable: they are covered with eyes both externally and internally. It is precisely these eyes that Principal William covets, seeking to cover the inner surface of his brain with eyes so he can hear the thoughts of the Great Ones or perhaps ascend among them as a human. Kindred: These are relatives, subordinates, or followers of the Great Ones. Whether they are directly related to the Great Ones is unknown, but their blood is significantly weaker. It is clear that they occupy a position between the Great Ones and humans. These include: Ebrietas, Rom, Living Failures, Messenger of Heaven, Glowing Flowers, Gardens of Eyes, Liquid Students, Brain Suckers, and Celestial Scions. Judging by their appearance, it can be assumed that they were once human, but were artificially, and apparently unsuccessfully, transformed into something close to the Great Ones. Ebrietas is the first Great One encountered by the Healing Church. Interestingly, every Great One loses its childe and seeks to find a replacement. Perhaps Ebrietas's childe is Rom Spider, tortured by the Church's experiments before her eyes. Rom Spider, being "empty-minded," may have been unable to fully transform into a Great One due to these experiments. Her skull remains intact, indicating that her brain has not reached the level of the Great Ones, which is why she is considered a Kindred rather than a true Great One. All Celestial Scions may be the children of the Great One Oedon and human women. Celestial Scions worship Ebrietas, perhaps praying for her protection. The Great Lake is a rift that preserves sleep. This dream is inhabited by Rom the Spider, a Kindred spirit, and it was there that the clergy hid their secret from prying eyes. Old Rector William loved to spend time by the lake, observing it. Ebrietas is a Kindred spirit only because she lacks her own nightmare. For this reason, she has yet to become a full-fledged Great One and bears the nickname "The Abandoned One." She is also an artificial inhabitant of Issa—a Great One, created from an ordinary Pthumerian woman. Intoxicated by the powers of the Great Ones, they once aspired to them. The land of Issa has a profound connection with the cosmos and the Great Ones who dwell there. True Great Ones are born and strengthened in their own, separate transformations—nightmares. No earthly mind, including Ebrietas, can become a true Great One, for they have fallen far behind on the path of universal evolution.

Superhuman physical attributes. For example, Maria can easily pierce an opponent's body with her hand. Weapon Mastery. She is a master of various weapons, including the Rakuyo blade, which can be split into two parts. Swordsmanship. Maria is proficient in the use of bladed weapons. Shooting. She is skilled in the use of firearms. Resistance. Lady Maria has enhanced resistance to poison. Levitation. She can levitate in midair. Acceleration Art. This technique significantly increases the user's speed, concealing their form in a mist as they move. Blood Manipulation. As the battle progresses, Maria infuses her weapons with blood, increasing their range and damage. Blood-based attacks. For example, "Blood Dance," "Blood Spear," and "Blood Explosion."

Lady Mary is the embodiment of tragedy. Her noble desire to help turned into the deepest grief: time and again, she was used as a tool to sow suffering among those who were innocent.

Lady Maria appears as the embodiment of refined beauty. Her skin is as pale as moonlight, and her silver hair falls in soft waves. Dressed in a practical yet elegant huntress's garb, she displays the distinctive Cainhurst patterns, hinting at her noble origins. A distant relative of the immortal queen, Lady Maria's appearance exudes an air of timeless power and refinement.

After Lady Maria gave up her weapon, she was offered a new job. Thanks to her advanced education and clearance to work with classified documents, she became the head of a secret research or experimental department. It was here that the Healing Church conducted its darkest experiments, attempting to recreate the Great Beings. This secret chamber could only be accessed with a special amulet—a hollow human skull. "The Hunter's Nightmare" mentions two great cathedrals: one beyond the River of Blood, the other within the Great Cathedral. It is said that it housed an experimental department, long kept secret by the Healing Church. Access was granted only to select medical professionals possessing the "eye," or unfortunate patients. Apparently, within these walls, they attempted to recreate the Messengers of Heaven from ordinary people—the very same ones found in the Upper Cathedral Ward, on the approaches to Ebrietas's secret lair. The scientists likely succeeded. However, in Mary's time, in the place where the Messengers would eventually settle, only patients with bloated heads could be found. These beings possessed the ability to summon small comets from outer space. They were a previous stage of the Living Failures' development; unlike their larger-headed brethren, they could already summon comets, albeit still very small. Looking at the Living Failures, one might conclude that their bodies had transformed into Messengers quite well, but the most important part—the head—was completely ruined. To bring patients to this state, Healing Church doctors forced them to drink seawater until their heads began to change. In the early days of the Healing Church, higher beings were associated with the ocean, so large-headed patients who filled themselves with water heard the "voice of the ocean." The cerebrospinal fluid was an attempt to acquire "eyes inside the head," which is what occurred during the writhing process. In the research hall, they discovered a new way to grow eyes on the surface of the brain without the Great One's umbilical cord, bringing human beings closer to the Great Ones. Subsequent patients began drinking not seawater, but the brain fluid of those whose heads had grown to gigantic proportions. The patients in the research hall turned into walking, headless corpses, and their brains, grown in bags, detached and became immortal. This was the true face of the Healing Church. It was there that Lady Maria was sent to observe the patients. She settled at the very top of the Clock Tower, where she is found in the Nightmare. Apparently, Maria was beloved by the locals, for she was truly kind to them. Even having lost the last vestiges of humanity, they still remember her and call upon her. Perhaps remembering the horrors Byrgenwerth perpetrated in Fishing Village, she wanted to atone for her sins by serving the Healing Church, tending to its unfortunate patients and alleviating their unimaginable suffering. What could be better? But here, everything was anything but. Patients were tortured for the sake of science, completely forgetting morality, empathy, and compassion in their blind pursuit of knowledge. Once, at Byrgenwerth's behest, Maria had already participated in the most horrific acts "for the greater good," as she was told at the time. In reality, it was to satisfy the boundless thirst for knowledge of Willem and other university scholars. Now, in the bosom of the Healing Church, which had separated from Byrgenwerth, she hoped to serve a truly noble cause: helping scientists find a panacea to heal thousands of people from the beast's curse. But in vain. The local sages desired only their own ascension, their transformation into Great Ones. Time and again, Maria became a tool in the hands of merciless monsters, torturing innocent people and subjecting them to unnatural experiments. And all for the same purpose—a boundless thirst for knowledge and power. The second time, she did not wish to be implicated, but history repeated itself. Unable to bear the weight of her own sins, she took poison. Maria killed herself by poisoning herself, and that was how she died.

This ancient fishing village, lost in the darkest depths of the nightmare, was more than just a figment of a fevered mind. It was a living reminder of the monstrous deeds committed by Byrgenwerth in his relentless pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. The village became a vessel for the cultivation of the hunters' nightmares, a place where sin took root and mystery took shape. The word "vessel for cultivation" is "noiduku," an ancient term for a rune. In the Bloodborne universe, where the Hingan flower, or Red Spider Lily, a symbol of misfortune and death, usually blooms on battlefields, its place has been taken by the sunflower. This flower, named after the stars, feeds on spilled blood. The Beginning of the Nightmare It all began when a huge carcass washed up on the shore of an inconspicuous fishing village from the dark depths of the ocean. Not even the oldest fishermen had seen such a creature. Upon learning of this, William immediately dispatched his hunters to the village. Their task was to study and dissect everything they found, in order to come at least a little closer to understanding the Great Ones. "Byrgenwerth, fiends, maddened by blood, blasphemous murderers! Redemption for sinners, the wrath of the Mother of Kos, mercy for this poor, wrinkled child! Please have mercy! Bring a blood curse upon them, their children, and their children's children forever! Every sinful birth will return each child to the abyss of suffering! Mercy for this poor, wrinkled child! Let Kos's scorching heat be as true as a mother's devotion!" – so spoke the village sorcerer. Kos was furious. The people of Byrgenwerth had taken her child from her. Her dying will, taking the form of the Orphan of Kos in the nightmare, was the cause of this nightmare's existence. Her rage and curse were directed at the scientists of Byrgenwerth. The only way to stop this was to kill the Orphan of Kos and purify the last will of the Great One. Having learned of the existence of the Great One's child, William may have attempted to acquire the Nerve of the Eye. This organ, common to infants and even Great Ones, gave rise to the name "umbilical cord." With it, William sought to obtain the coveted eyes within the skull. But how did Kos die, and why did her body wash ashore? Perhaps the answer lies in Kos's parasites. The corpse of the higher being washed ashore contained a multitude of tiny parasites. They do not live within humans, but one can be picked up and used to strike. While not a weapon in the literal sense, these bugs are said to stimulate the phantoms inhabiting the glowing tree. A person can become a "stem" inhabited by the phantoms—the very same slimes that litter the fishing village. Suppressing the Truth After all the atrocities the Byrgenwerth hunters had committed and the secrets they had witnessed, these hunters could not be left unsupervised. Therefore, they were all soon placed in specially prepared chambers, so that things unseen and knowledge unfathomable would die quietly with them in the blessed darkness. Knowledge of the incident in the fishing village had to die along with those involved. Not only because it was impossible for the human mind to comprehend everything that had happened, but also because this story would surely cast a thick, impenetrable shadow over all of Byrgenwerth, and especially over its rector, William. The skull of a trampled fishing village—perhaps they searched inside the skull for eyes. There are countless signs of cruelty, and now the skull has accumulated a curse. The Byrgenwerth men barbarously dissected the heads of the villagers, hoping to find at least one of them with signs of eyes growing on the surface of their brains. After all, these people had beheld the true Great One. This encounter could not have been in vain; traces of this contact must surely have remained on them, but it was all in vain. Lady Maria, witnessing the suffering of simple, innocent people, could not bear the violence perpetrated by the Byrgenwerth hunters in the village. In a fit of rage and despair, she threw her favorite weapon into a deep well, as if forever renounced violence. It was precisely because of the horror that had unfolded in the village that she would commit suicide.

As time passed, Byrgenwerth's scholars made ever more astonishing discoveries, penetrating the ancient Pthumerian dungeons. However, Rector William remained adamant: he forbade the use of the power gained by humanity and forbade anyone within the university from using the ancient blood for power. But then an event occurred that forever changed the course of history. Long ago, Yharnam suffered from a terrible disease known as "ash blood" The exact nature of the affliction remains a mystery, but surviving accounts point to its connection to the appearance of monsters. It is believed that the source of the plague in old Yharnam was a bloodsucker—a creature exuding a poisonous aura. The poisoning was cured by taking a cure for the ashen bloodsucker. Interestingly, the bloodsucker resided in the Church of the Holy Chalice, and defeating it granted access to the first chalice. Perhaps the townspeople, intentionally or accidentally, summoned this bloodthirsty monster (corruptedly translated as "blood-sucking monster") in duplicate. Thirsting for the power of ancient blood, they likely captured the monster, hung it from a chandelier, and then slit its back, collecting its blood. This is confirmed by the discovery of ritual blood near the bodies on pedestals—the very same blood needed for the chalice ritual. It appears the monsters were "siphoned" until the poison that causes the ash sickness began to ooze from their veins. Unfortunately for the residents of old Yharnam, the first creature summoned from the chalice was a creature whose miasma completely engulfed the town, plunging it into a shroud of disease. The inhabitants died one by one. Unable to bear witness to this calamity, Lawrence, who knew of the true power of blood, abandoned William and founded the Healing Church. Perhaps it was he who left a farewell note for his loved ones in Byrgenwerth. Lawrence embraced the power of blood and its echoes. The Healing Church rejected William's fear of the ancient blood and opened its doors to all who wished. Thousands flocked to Yharnam for the precious blood, which not only cured the ash disease but also strengthened the body. The special blood used for healing gave a feeling of vitality, leading to the emergence of many "blood addicts" among the residents of Yharnam. While helping people, the members of the Healing Church did not neglect their research, carefully monitoring the effects of blood transfusions. Their research was akin to the study of the sacrament, as the core of the church was made up of people from Byrgenwerth who retained a thirst for knowledge. Byrgenwerth became a source of inspiration for the church, and its influence is evident in the clerical vestments – a simple imitation of appearances, devoid of depth of knowledge and philosophy. How heartbroken Rector William would have been. However, where ancient blood flowed through veins, sooner or later the fate of old Laran was repeated, and the curse of the beast manifested itself once again. People began to transform into monsters. But the fall of prosperous Yharnam did not begin immediately. Common medicines, sedatives, and even alcohol began to be made from blood. The Church developed, its ranks grew, and soon a hierarchy formed: medical staff in snow-white robes and hunters in black robes. The white staff served as the leaders of the hunters. The Church does not heal or help; it merely studies: Blood, the Beast Plague, and the Great Ones. Blood is not just a substance, but the key to transformation and knowledge. The Church's research focuses on its multifaceted properties: from healing to those that awaken primal instincts. Its composition, its effects on physiology and psyche, and the ritual significance inherited from the ancient Pthumerians are being studied. The Beast Plague is a curse born of the blood itself when its power grows uncontrollable. The Church strives to understand the nature of this disease and its spread. Within the walls of the Healing Church, where the thirst for knowledge intertwines with mystical rituals, every day brings new discoveries. Hunters clad in black risk their lives in search of rare blood samples and information about the Great Beings, while medical staff in white, armed with the knowledge of Byrgenwerth, analyze the data, striving to unravel the mysteries that could change the fate of Yharnam and the entire world. The Healing Church had its own saints, but only because their blood was particularly potent as a means of miraculous healing. Healing Church nuns could become blood vessels and blood saints, but only if their blood was significantly stronger than others. The very possibility of partaking of their blood gave legitimacy to the Healing Church and the sacrament. It was these saints who were sacrificed for increasingly horrific sacramental rituals, revealing to the churchmen ever deeper and more secret dungeons of the ancient race.