Critically Ill Man, Gilbert

Running Water is a thing (the only evidence of this is the Research Building where we can find sinks)

Candles/Oil lamps/torches are the only light sources.

Fireplaces for heating.

No electricity. The ‘Blue Spark’ of the Darkbeasts is the only known form of electricity and is studied only by a very restricted group of hunters whose research was also considered pretty odd by the Healing church. The School of Mensis on the other hand, most likely welcomed Archibald’s experiments.

Mechanical and clockwork expertise (trick weapons, clocktower, rotating staircases, elevators, machine guns)

Astronomy is very advanced as hinted by the studies of Byrgenwerth and the Choir. (gigantic telescope in the lunarium, Astral clocktower.)

 There is no plastic but natural rubbers were probably known and used.

Printing press. (Books everywhere and in multiple copies. We don’t see newspapers in-game, but it’s safe to assume they exist.) 

Home delivery. (Blood is delivered to Yharnamites’ homes just like milk, possibly on a daily basis.)

Carriages and horses. There’s no train station in Yharnam. We see docks in the canal/sewers. 

Steam power apparently isn’t used either. This is quite telling because all technological advancements were applied to weapons alone and not implemented in any way to make people’s lives more comfortable. Which makes a lot of sense, actually. When you have bigger problems such as gigantic stag-dogs roaming the streets, you can’t focus on house commodities.

Most guns need to be reloaded! The reason why our hunter doesn’t reload is probably just a gameplay mechanic since we see Gascoigne reload his gun (which is just like our gun, not a different model or an older version. He wields it paired with the hunter’s axe which, again, is exactly like ours.) So if you’re writing a story, make sure your characters reload their weapons :D

Positive effects of the Old Blood: enhances strength and resistance, most likely makes you taller and able to withstand attacks that would kill a normal human in just one hit. Basically, all Blood-users are like goddamn Marvel superheroes and even those not trained as hunters can be formidable foes.

Yharnam’s burial service is considered ‘blasphemous’ by outsiders like Eileen and, potentially, the player character. From what we can observe in the game, is safe to assume that due to the frequency of deaths, Yharnamites either buried their dead in mass graves or simply let the Church take care of the bodies. Those bodies were robbed of their eyes in Hemwick and later on burned to produce Bone Marrow Ash or brought directly to Yahar’gul.

Incense pots such as those found in Oedon Chapel are also filled with bones, which may suggest another imaginative way to ‘recycle’ the immense amount of bodies that would otherwise fill the streets.

Both Blood and Bones have special properties in the world of Bloodborne. Blood crystallizes instead of coagulating and creates powerful Blood Gems that grant strength and special properties to Hunter’s weapons. 

Beast bones can still be ‘alive’ [ “Crafted by chiseling the long bones of an undead darkbeast and fastening them to the weapon. The bones are still alive, and when unleashed, grant its wielder a spurt of beastly power.” - Beast Claw] but their use, just like that of Beast Blood and all the Beast-related Runes is frowned upon by the Church which banned Beast Blood Pellets, the Beast Rune and Beast Embrace Rune.

The reason why Bones and Blood are connected and why bones can be considered alive is probably because red blood cells are created in our body’s bone marrow (the soft tissue inside the bones) and released into the bloodstream from there. In a sense, Dark Beasts like Paarl are kept alive by the ‘will’ of the Old Blood, which not only is a source of power but also a repository of memories and experience: Blood Echoes are ‘echoing wills of those that came before us’, after all.

 Attempts in controlling beasthood are the ‘foundation’ of the Healing Church as stated in the Beast Embrace Rune even if complete success was never achieved. The current doctrine of the Healing Church teaches that fear is what drives mankind towards its bestial nature and fights this desire with the Old Blood and the ritual of communion. The fact that the playful ‘sprites’ of the Holy Moonlight Sword “offered ‘guidance’ (and) could empty Ludwig of his fears at least in the midst of a hunt.“ supports this theory, even returning Ludwig to a state of partial lucidity once his 2nd phase starts.

The first beasts were encountered by the Byrgenwerth scholars in the Old Labyrinth. ‘Beast’, one of the first runes to be discovered by Caryll is “a transcription of the roar of a labyrinth beast. (…) ‘Beast’ is one of the early Caryll Runes. as well as one of the first to be deemed forbidden. The discovery of Blood entailed the discovery of undesirable beasts.“ but this doesn’t mean that they weren’t present elsewhere. In fact, the members of the League are said to be Outsiders who chased a beast ‘all the way to Yharnam” which brings me to the conclusion that the plague is more wide-spread and ancient than we may think.

Many kingdoms fell because of the plague of the Beasts before Yharnam. Loran is one of those forgotten lands, now devoured by the sand.

There are statues of Moon Presence in the Lumenflower Garden in Upper Cathedral Ward (the Celestial Emissary boss arena). If we visit the same place in the Hunter’s Nightmare (the garden where Blacksky Eye is located), the statues are not there, because the Hunter’s Dream hadn’t been beckoned at that point and Moon Presence was unknown to the scholars. This element alone is really important when it comes to put together some sort of timeline because if we assume that the Research Hall is a snapshot of the endeavors of the Healing Church/Choir after the discovery of Fishing Hamlet, we can safely conclude that Laurence, Gehrman, Maria and Willem were all still alive at that point in time (when Maria was working there as a caretaker for the patients.) and thus that not only those were the early days of the Healing Church but also that the Choir was active from the very beginning.

The notes in the lecture building seem to have been left by someone who’s piecing together the story of the Hunter’s Dream:

“The nameless moon presence beckoned by Laurence and his associates. Paleblood.“  [the Dream’s creation]

“Master Willem was right. Evolution without courage will be the ruin of our race.“  [What led to its creation]

"Hunt the Great Ones, Hunt the Great Ones.” [What the Dream is used for]