An Investigation of the Impaler's Catacombs
So, with the DLC being announced and us getting some info about it and its characters, one thing we learn is, of course, Messmer the Impaler. Some people were quick to point out that there is a location in the base game called Impaler's Catacombs. "Impaler's" is singular, meaning it belonged to AN impaler, not a group of impalers, which would be impalers'.
Interestingly, the Impaler's Catacombs are also located on the Weeping Peninsula. I say this is interesting because a couple reasons;
1. The Weeping Peninsula is home to a spirit next to a church who speaks of an unwanted child of Marika's. Many people assumed this had something to do with the headless demigod in the Walking Mausoleums, but we are now inclined to believe it could be Messmer. That being said, there could be some relation to the headless demigod and Messmer, as we do seem to see more knights similar to Mausoleum Knights in the trailer and images. And with Messmer's seeming fondness for blasphemous things; he has dragon eyes, he has a snake, he wields fire and what looks like the thorns of the guilty, I think this could be related to why he would be unwanted. He's a little shit.
2. The Weeping Peninsula does not have a demigod or shardbearer. Every other region of the game has some kind of big boss that is important to the main story, while the Peninsula has... a Leonine Misbegotten... sure, this boss is interesting with the story of Castle Morne and it having the sword, but it is interesting that this is the only region without one and just so happens to also have this dungeon and a spirit talking about an unwanted child.
So, onto the actual dungeon.
For starters, we have a giant pit near the beginning of the dungeon.
Is this important? Probably not since I'm pretty sure other dungeons have this kind of entrance area, but one think I don't think is typical of dungeons is this:
There are bars over the tombs. Now, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this does not happen in other dungeons, at least not very many. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is odd.
And this appears to be in multiple areas, not just this hall, though admittedly not every one of these corpse storage things are like this.
But now we have the impaling part of the Impaler's Catacombs; a classic trap of step on it, get pushed up into a bunch of spikes. Oh look at that, you've been impaled.
I think this could imply that, if this is related to Messmer, that he would be a very cruel person. I mean, you would probably have to be cruel to impale someone regardless, but to do so through a not-so-fun funhouse trap is probably a bit more sadistic.
Underneath this is the sewers. These sewers still have tombs here, which is a pretty shitty place to be laid to rest. Does this have any meaning? Well, it could add to the theme of unwantedness. If you don't want someone, you likely don't respect them, and if don't respect them, put them with the poop. And if he somehow had a hand in making this one, it could be that this tomb was for people just like that.
Is there anything interesting about the sewers? Well, it's full of Putrid Corpses. According the item description of the Putrid Corpse Ashes:
Does this mean anything? Tbh, I'm not sure. There could be something we could out these enemies essentially being meat shields or distractions though, but may I am reaching again.
The other interesting thing we find here is a prattling prate! Specifically...
"Please Help." Oop. I think the name speaks for itself, but the shape of this prate, all of which are intended to be heads, looks very squished. Almost like the person who has pleaded for help has had their head stepped on, which is something I'm sure many Messmer fans wish could happen to them.
Next up we have more barred over tombs next to the lever. This will add more to my theory at the end.
We've got this window that leads back to the boss room. Does this mean anything? Probably not, but you better believe that I'm gonna pull something out of it at the end. Plus it's kind of a neat way to loop back around!
Speaking of the boss, our boss is a Burial Watchdog. Pretty standard. But what isn't standard is that this one is accompanied by four imps.
Once again, very cruel. Mostly to use, the player, but still. It will go into the fuel pile for my theory.
And for beating this boss, we get the Demihuman Ashes.
Can I get anything out of this? Well, the Demi-Humans are a pretty oppressed group, like many of the inhabitants of the Lands Between who weren't born as the Golden Order or its enforcers would want you to be.
So, what is my theory? Well, as you could probably tell...
I think Messmer is an asshole. A very cruel asshole. Assuming he is related to this dungeon, I think that this dungeon was maybe meant more for punishment than normal burial.
The tombs being barred over? Only those with clean shots to the exit are. Perhaps Messmer would have people entombed alive and they would be locked behind these bars, unable to escape and forced either to starve to death, or simply suffer forever since death was removed.
Those tombs that aren't barred over? Well, they're all right on our fun little deathtrap. Sure, you don't have bars. You can get out of your tomb, but the moment you do, your driven through with metal spikes. And below is the sewers, which is full of putrid corpses and a prate asking for help.
Perhaps others were shoved down here to live in the filth, unable to get up to the top. The time of being trapped down here had them begging for help, begs that went unanswered, and they were corrupted by the filth into these putrid beings.
As for the boss? Well, let's start with the window down to it. Your only choice would be to head down into the sewers, or out this window. This window doesn't harm us, but we have protagonist powers. Any normal person would probably shatter their legs. Next, the boss' drop. The Demi-Human ashes. Again, an oppressed and hated group. Perfect for being trapped here as a punishment, no?
And the boss itself is a large group. You get past the bars, you get past the death trap, you get out of the sewers, make it down the window without being too badly hurt, and what you have is four Imps and a Watchdog waiting to make sure you NEVER make it out.
I think Messmer may have watched over the Weeping Peninsula and may have made this tomb not for the dead, but for the living. To trap them; make them suffer and never be able to get out.
And as a little bonus; the pit at the beginning. A funny thing about this pit is that there are messages down here. You can survive the drop! But uh... good luck getting out. You physically can't unless you have beaten the dungeon and fast travel, or use one of the items that return you to a Site of Grace. This could add to the theme of you're trapped and never leaving. Once the rest of the tomb is full, they bring you in, drop you in a whole, you break your everything, and are trapped. But this assumes this was intentional, but tbh, it probs wasn't.
BUT HEY, THAT'S JUST A THEORY. A GAME THEORY. Thanks for reading. Is any of this true? Maybe. Only time will tell. I'd love to hear your thoughts and thank you to everyone who made it this far in the post.
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