of the sunless realms

Was she to feel agony? True: it was the emotion one would fathom upon such a sight. A city sinking into muck and ruin. Dark crystals jutting like jagged teeth from the maw of the beast. A Dark that so encompassed all it touched; they became its thralls. Some tethered to the whims of the Church of Filianore; moreso those lumbering Judicator giant’s that trudged through said muck. Seeming not to notice the decay that they stomped through.

Agony was an emotion she knew in name only: one she once felt before. As blood had pooled about her feet, ebbing in the water as steps were taken away. Who was it that had fallen? They were important. Someone dear to her heart. It felt hard to recall what once plucked at the heart strings when they no longer remained. There was but a feeling off...peace. An odd sort of peace that felt too tranquil. Her mind no longer ate upon her; no longer told her her past actions defined her. 

And it was all that could be felt. Thanks to the Dark. That same Dark that threatened to close its jaws about them all as a whole. It’d swallowed so many...So many others. Some she’d once known. Once called a threat to the good of the world. To a Sunless sky. It no longer mattered. Thoughts dissipated as the hopping of one of the locust priest’s drew her attention. Watching softly as it skittered through the grime with two of its arms tucked so close to its bloated chest. “ Fret not, my friend. And your feast has begun. ”

NOTE: It is my personal belief that she is a part of the end of the world, though we never see her. And we do not see her for a specific reason. You see, there is one locust priest who talks to us and he gives us some dialogue that I believe is about Sirris. He says

“One poor girl slew her own kin, but even so, was embraced, enveloped by the Abyss.Twas a comfort that neither moon nor sunless sky afforded her before.Fear not, the dark, my friend.And let the feast begin.”

Sirris is there at the end of the world. Within the Ringed City. But she is not summoned by the Dark to thwart the Unkindled one, as Eygon is or as Alva was. She seems to be one of the few swallowed by the abyss who’s actually rather happy about her fate. It eradicates all responsibility from her which is all her life has ever been. ‘Twas a comfort that neither moon nor sunless sky afforded her before’ alone tells me that she seems more at ease in the Abyss. 

some kid on tumblr: [makes gay/trans/neurodivergent headcanons for an npc]

// *curls up in a fetal position*

Think that's bad? Imagine how alone she felt. The man who must have raised her ( by himself, if what we're presented is any indication ) slowly went mad before her eyes. Imagine how hard she must have fought with him verbally to try and draw him from the clutches of the Moundmakers covenant. But this thing, this parasite, just wormed its way into his mind and his new 'family' he was creating became more important than his actual family.

Imagine that Hodrick was suffering, too. From watching all of his family die in their service to the Blades; protecting from Invaders who eventually just...won. Imagine him fearing that the same fate would one day befall Sirris. The Blades are shown to us as people who duel honorably. And let's be honest, honorable duelists never win. They never do good against people who are invading. Hodrick must have looked into the eyes of his granddaughter and knew, somewhere in his heart, he was setting her on an inevitable path of death and ruin. Imagine how bad that must have weighed on him.

So he does what most broken men do: seek solace elsewhere. Try to remain strong and unbroken for his loved one but he's suffering too. But Sirris can't know; but she know's somethings up. Until he gets so bad and has this brief, fleeting, moment of clarity. Where he makes her swear a promise you should never do to your granddaughter. And because she so blindly loves and worships him, she says yes. Says yes and Hodrick's fears come true.

You know it's really depressing, the way Sirris speaks to you after you help her kill Hodrick. First and foremost she's apologetic over having dragged you into her family issues. Then goes on to say - with no hesitation - that she could now die. Taking her own life was clearly a part of her plan from the beginning of this whole quest. But when she offers her assistance to you as your knight? There's so much HOPE in her voice. It's buried, beneath that formal way she speaks, but it's there.

      " Since you do not wish for the throne -- can we relinquish titles, then? " There was some soft, almost invisible sort of joke with her words. As though the very thought alone gave her a good chuckle. If the Unkindled had not proven themselves unworthy of assistance, perhaps this little pleasant conversation would not be occurring. She instead lending a hand in their demise. Fate works funny, doesn't it? " But of course if you wish to keep the title as well, I've no complaints. "

  There it was: the smallest of smiles. Tugging lightly at the corner of her mouth. It did the heart good, she supposed, to see another of her ilk about. " Found yourself without duty tonight, Adrian? "

      " Jarrod. " The greeting came paired with a stiff nod of her head; an indication that she recognized his approach. Leather of her cauntlet wiping away what little sweat had accumulated upon her forehead. " I did not think to find someone I know here. "