Dark Souls Part 2: Awakening in the Asylum

After learning about the land the player is to quest in, we are transitioned to a bleak environment. It is here that we learn that those who have been cursed with the Dark Sign are condemned by society to a grim fate. They are corralled by their peers, taken to a far away land in the north, and locked away in an asylum to wait until their brains turn to apple sauce.

 A tragic ending to anyone's life, indeed, but it is now that a new revelation is made. You are one of these undead. You have been confined to a cell with nothing to do but stare at the floor and watch your skin slowly rot away. Thankfully, what was surely an extremely long wait is skipped, and your eventless internment is interrupted by a dead corpse falling from a hole in the ceiling above you. Looking up, you see that a man wearing the armor of Astorian knights has dropped you this gift, and he leaves without saying a word.

Upon inspecting the body, the key to your cell is found. Not taking the time to ponder why a complete stranger has given you the means to escape, you quickly retrieve a broken sword hilt as an excuse for a weapon, and flee from your eternal captivity. Running down the halls of the asylum, you find that you are not the first undead to have escaped from a cell. However, your fellow captives who roam these halls appear to be in such a vegetative state that they don't even notice your existence, much less have any knowledge of where they are. Fleeing from this mad place, you soon come to the courtyard directly before the exit. However, before you can manage to escape, a dreadfully large being descends from the roof above...

This is a demon. It has been placed here to prevent you from doing exactly what you are attempting to do - escape. It towers over you by at least 30 feet, and wields a bulky cudgel with a head that is twice your size. Deciding that you prefer the asylum over a death by crushing, you flee back into the halls of madness where the beast cannot follow you.

After retrieving a rudimentary shield and weaponry, you soon find the knight who freed you from your cell. Unfortunately, he has taken a fatal wound, and is in the throes of death. You discover that he is also undead, and upon his death he will go mad like the other citizens of this cursed place. Oscar makes one request of you before he dies: to fulfill the mission in which he has failed. Escape from this asylum, journey to Lordran, the land of the Lords, and ring the Bell of Awakening to discover the fate of all who are undead. Oscar bids his final farewells before drifting away into darkness.

Now armed, you return to the courtyard with newly found purpose. You are not just escaping, but fulfilling the mission of the man who freed you from this terrible fate. You descend upon the great beast, and slay it. With the demon defeated, you exit the front gates of the asylum, and head to the edge of a nearby cliff. Then, something rather unexpected happens...

This Fowl of Unusual Size descends upon you and carries you off into the great distance. Bewilderment is soon replaced with understanding as you realize that this creature is taking you to Lordran. But how did it know? Was it waiting for you? Does it know your mission? Questions to be answered later. For now, you must prepare to arrive in the ancient land of Lordran...