Harmless Half-knowledge: May 2017

The Great Smoky Mountains are part of the Appalachians - a system of mountains in the east of the U.S., ranging from the bottom all the way to the top. Notably in the Smokies, you can oftentimes see wild black bears. Bears aside, there are a number of dangerous animals living in Tennessee, e.g. Rattlesnakes, Copperheads and venomous spiders.

The following photos are from a hike on the Anthony Creek Trail in Cades Cove. At the end of the trail we met a guy who hikes the whole Appalachian Trail from Georgia all the way up to Maine. That is 3500km and takes five to seven months - Holy shit!

On our way

Lots of fog and rain on our way up

Reached the end of the trail

A colorful tree in the middle of green, brown and gray

A creepy millipede - Xystodesmidae / Apheloria perhaps?

At the visitor center - a friend wanted to collect the stamp for this national park.
Her goal is to visit each national park and collect all 59 stamps.

After I've enjoyed all content Dark Souls 2 has to offer (photo tour), I went back to Lordran. Here's a selection of photos I took during my stay.

But first some even older photos from 2014.

Let me introduce my Wanderer, sporting the Uchigatana and the Grass Crest Shield. I stuck to the basic wanderer armor as much as possible, because it's pretty and light.

You take great care setting up your character, and then spend most of the time
as a beef jerky zombie. *sigh*

Up there lives the giant archer Hawkeye Gough who can shoot down dragons.


My friend Solaire of Astora - One of the most popular characters in Dark Souls. He spends a lot of time looking at the sun and musing.

The Tomb of Giants - The Skull Lantern lights the way in this godforsaken place.

Blacksmith Vamos

Now for the new photos after my return:

I am in The Duke's Archives. Alright, bring it on!

Enjoying the cutscene

Seath the Scaleless who betrayed his fellow dragons
and thus helped end their rule and bring about the age of fire.

Siegmeyer of Catarina, a.k.a. The Onion Knight

I can be an onion, too.

My tour guide Darkstalker Kaathe goofs around

The Painted World of Ariamis is guarded by a beautiful dragon+human-hybrid woman.

Tis but a scratch.

Since I'm not perfect at the game, I had to learn some magic, get heavier armors
and specialized gear.

The Demon Ruins

Solaire joins for some jolly cooperation. \[T]/

The Ash Lake - It's far underground and has a beach and a sky...

The Stone Dragon - He initiates you into the Path of The Dragon covenant.
In this covenant you basically fight other players in return for shiny gear.

Eventually, I gathered all boss souls and opened the gate to the last area ...

... The Kiln of the First Flame

The last boss took me a week or two. Good dammit!
Finally, with the help of the strongest and heaviest armor,
I was able to beat him. Not pretty, but it worked.

Like so many other players before you get to decide whether you offer your soul
to rekindle the flame and thus extend the age of fire,
or bring about the ultimately inevitable - the age of darkness.

In the end it doesn't matter. Nothing you did matters.

And thus repeats the cycle.

New Game Plus is over, and NG++ starts. Everything repeats, except you keep your character and every enemy is stronger.

Once the tutorial is done, a giant crow carries you away.

Enjoy the scenery of Lordran while you can.

This is your home: the Firelink Shrine. The guy on the right already lost his mind.
Most characters in Dark Souls are crazy or lose it later on,
because the world is ruthless and there is no hope.