Bloodborne Lore Reference

A comprehensive lore guide for TTRPG campaign use. Compiled from research phases 1-3 (GitHub Issue #99).

Table of Contents

1. Timeline of Major Events
2. Cosmology & The Great Ones
3. The Old Blood & The Scourge
4. History of Yharnam
5. The Healing Church
6. Hunter Organizations
7. Social Structure
8. Major Characters
9. The Hunt & Main Plot
10. The Old Hunters DLC
11. Glossary & Quick Reference

Timeline of Major Events

Ancient Era: The Pthumerians

Pre-Yharnam Era: The Fall of Loran

Recent Past: Byrgenwerth and the Schism

Present Era: The Night of the Hunt

Cosmology & The Great Ones

Nature of the Great Ones

Great Ones (上位者 Jōisha, "Superior Ones") are transcendent cosmic beings existing beyond human comprehension. They dwell in dimensions accessible through dreams and nightmares.

Core Traits:

• Each Great One is unique and irreplaceable
• They manifest through dreams, nightmares, and blood
• Universal trait: "Every Great One loses its child, and then yearns for a surrogate"

Hierarchy of Cosmic Beings

Individual Great Ones

Oedon (The Formless)

• Exists only in voice, lacking physical form
• Seeks vessels through the medium of blood
• Pursues women with special blood (Queen Yharnam, Arianna) for surrogate children
• His influence pervades Oedon Chapel

Moon Presence (Flora)

• Created the Hunter's Dream
• Bound Gehrman as its eternal servant
• Seeks a surrogate through the Hunt
• Can be killed if the Hunter consumes three Third Umbilical Cords

Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos

• "The left-behind Great One"
• Found beneath the Grand Cathedral by the Choir
• Unlike others, remained in the physical world
• Source of the Choir's cosmic knowledge

Kos

• Ocean-linked Great One who washed ashore at the Fishing Hamlet
• Worshipped by villagers as a mother figure
• Violated by Byrgenwerth scholars
• Her curse created the Hunter's Nightmare

Mergo

• Infant Great One, child of Queen Yharnam and Oedon
• Exists in the Nightmare of Mensis
• Its cries echo across Yharnam when Rom dies
• Guarded by Mergo's Wet Nurse

Rom, the Vacuous Spider

• Once a Byrgenwerth scholar, ascended to Kin
• Hides the eldritch truth from humanity
• Killing Rom reveals the Blood Moon and accelerates the Scourge

Amygdala

• Multiple entities exist throughout Yharnam
• Invisible until sufficient Insight gained
• Created the Nightmare Frontier

The Nightmare Realms

The Old Blood & The Scourge

Origins of the Old Blood

The Old Blood comes from the Great Ones themselves. Byrgenwerth scholars discovered it in the Pthumerian Labyrinth: "the oozing blood is a medium of the highest grade" for communion with cosmic entities.

Properties

The Scourge of the Beast

The Old Blood's most devastating effect: users mutate into mindless, wolf-like Beasts.

History of the Scourge:

1. First appeared in Loran, destroying that civilization
2. Now ravages Yharnam
3. Seems inevitable for any society embracing blood ministration
4. Connected to the Blood Moon's rising

The Blood Moon

Also called the Paleblood Sky. Appears when beasthood reaches critical mass. The relationship is ambiguous—the Moon may cause the Scourge, or the Scourge may summon the Moon. Perhaps both are true.

Master Willem's Warning: "Fear the Old Blood."

History of Yharnam

Founding

The city was built atop the Pthumerian Labyrinth, named after Queen Yharnam of the Pthumerians. Its very foundations rest on ancient horrors.

Rise of the Healing Church

After Laurence's schism with Willem, he founded the Healing Church in Yharnam. Blood ministration became its cornerstone, and the city became a theocracy under Church rule.

The Influx: The Church's miraculous healing drew pilgrims from across the world. These outsiders were treated with contempt by xenophobic Yharnamites, who nonetheless depended on foreign hunters to save them from the Scourge.

The Fishing Hamlet Massacre

Byrgenwerth scholars (Willem, Laurence, Gehrman, Maria, Ludwig) raided the Fishing Hamlet:

• Slaughtered villagers
• Drilled into skulls seeking "eyes on the inside"
• Violated Kos's corpse
• Ripped the Orphan from her womb

The Consequence: Kos cursed the hunters, creating the Hunter's Nightmare.

The Burning of Old Yharnam

When the Ashen Blood plague swept through Old Yharnam:

• The Healing Church sealed the bridges
• The Powder Kegs burned the entire district—citizens and all
• Djura witnessed this atrocity

Present Day

The Scourge has overtaken Yharnam. The Blood Moon rises. The cycle continues.

The Healing Church

Structure

                    FIRST VICAR (Laurence)
                           │
              ┌────────────┴────────────┐
              │                         │
          THE CHOIR               SCHOOL OF MENSIS
    (Upper Cathedral Ward)         (Yahar'gul)
              │                         │
      Discovered Ebrietas         Mensis Ritual
              │                         │
    ┌─────────┴─────────┐        Trapped in Nightmare
    │                   │
CHURCH HUNTERS    CHURCH DOCTORS
(Ludwig's Workshop)

The Choir

"The secret brains behind the entire hierarchy."

School of Mensis

The Rivalry

The Choir and Mensis were openly hostile:

• Mensis kidnapped Choir members
• The Choir sent spies into Mensis
• Their cold war contributed to Yharnam's collapse

Church Hunters

Ludwig, the Holy Blade:

• Founded the Healing Church Workshop
• First Hunter of the Church
• Created heavy weapons accessible to those without Gehrman's training
• Wanted to revive a Golden Age of chivalric nobility
• Eventually transformed into a hideous beast in the Hunter's Nightmare

Hunter Organizations

The Hunter's Workshop (Gehrman's Original)

The First Hunter: Gehrman founded the original Workshop beneath Oedon Chapel.

Innovations:

• The Burial Blade (first trick weapon)
• The art of Quickening (rapid combat)
• Redesigned common clothing for defense

The Old Hunters: Gehrman's students, including Maria, Eileen, and originally Ludwig.

The Hunter's Dream

Created when Gehrman and Laurence contacted the Moon Presence using an Umbilical Cord. Gehrman became trapped as its eternal steward.

Gehrman's Tragedy: In his loneliness, he crafted the Doll to resemble Maria. He cannot rest, cannot leave. Sometimes you hear him weeping or begging Laurence for help.

The League

Executioners

Vilebloods of Cainhurst

Hunter of Hunters

A secret covenant that eliminates blood-drunk hunters. Eileen the Crow is the current practitioner. The crow garb symbolizes "sky burial"—returning the dead to the heavens.

Social Structure

The Hierarchy of Yharnam

Blood Culture

Yharnamites drink blood recreationally: "No true Yharnam citizen fails to partake in a blood cocktail, getting drunk on that invigorating feeling not replicable with any alcohol."

Xenophobia

Despite depending on foreign hunters for protection, Yharnamites resent outsiders: "Never missing a chance to gloat when foreigners get themselves killed for their ignorance."

Major Characters

Gehrman, the First Hunter

The Plain Doll

Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower

Father Gascoigne

Eileen the Crow

Alfred the Executioner

Djura of Old Yharnam

Arianna, Woman of Pleasure

The Hunt & Main Plot

The Hunter's Arrival

A foreigner travels to Yharnam seeking a cure through Blood Ministration. After receiving a transfusion, they find a note: "Seek Paleblood to transcend the hunt."

What is Paleblood?

• The Moon Presence itself (Miyazaki confirmed)
• The sky when the Blood Moon rises
• A condition granting resistance to corruption
• All of the above

The Night of the Hunt

The Hunter enters during a Night of the Hunt—a recurring event where residents transform into beasts.

Key Revelations:

1. The Healing Church's blood healing is the source of the Scourge
2. The Choir and Mensis pursue godhood through horror
3. The Blood Moon has risen due to Mensis's ritual
4. Queen Yharnam's consciousness appears; Mergo's cries echo

The Three Endings

1. Yharnam Sunrise

Requirement: Accept Gehrman's offer

Result: Gehrman kills the Hunter, who awakens to sunrise. The cycle continues without them.

"Farewell, good hunter. May you find your worth in the waking world."

2. Honoring Wishes

Requirement: Refuse Gehrman without consuming three Umbilical Cords

Result: After defeating Gehrman, the Moon Presence embraces the Hunter. They become the new steward of the Dream—arguably a fate worse than death.

3. Childhood's Beginning (True Ending)

Requirement: Refuse Gehrman AND consume three Third Umbilical Cords

Result: The Hunter fights and kills the Moon Presence. They are reborn as an infant Great One, achieving the transcendence all others sought.

The Old Hunters DLC

The Hunter's Nightmare

A dimension created by Kos's curse. Traps blood-drunk hunters in eternal combat.

Entry: After defeating Vicar Amelia, a Lesser Amygdala grabs hunters possessing the Eye of a Blood-Drunk Hunter.

Notable Prisoners:

• Ludwig (transformed into a beast)
• Laurence (burning eternally as Cleric Beast)
• Maria (guarding the secret)

The Research Hall

A tower of the Church's failed experiments. Patients with enlarged heads—victims of attempts to give humans "eyes on the inside."

The Living Failures: Pitiful creatures from the Choir's attempts to create Kin.

Lady Maria's Stand

Maria guards the Astral Clocktower, preventing anyone from reaching the Fishing Hamlet and discovering what was done there.

After Her Defeat: The Doll senses "a liberation from heavy shackles"—Maria's soul was somehow connected to her.

The Fishing Hamlet

The site of Byrgenwerth's greatest atrocity. Villagers prayed to Mother Kos for vengeance; she answered with the curse.

The Orphan of Kos

The final boss—a wretched Great One infant torn from Kos's corpse.

Breaking the Curse: Strike the Orphan's phantom to return it to the ocean. Kos lifts the curse. The eternal rain stops. The hunters can finally rest.

Glossary & Quick Reference

Key Terms

Key Locations

Key Factions

Master Timeline (Quick Reference)

1. Ancient: Pthumerians serve Great Ones → Queen Yharnam bears Mergo
2. Pre-Yharnam: Loran falls to the Scourge
3. Decades Ago: Byrgenwerth discovers Labyrinth → Schism → Church founded
4. Decades Ago: Fishing Hamlet massacre → Kos's curse
5. Recent: Old Yharnam burned → Mensis ritual → Bodies die
6. Present: Hunter arrives → Rom killed → Blood Moon → Mergo silenced

Thematic Quick Reference

Core Themes for TTRPG Campaigns

Campaign Hooks

• A scholar seeks entry to the Labyrinth
• The Choir recruits orphans for "opportunity"
• A Vileblood survivor seeks Annalise's restoration
• A hunter fears they're losing themselves to the blood
• Old Yharnam survivors want the truth exposed
• Someone seeks to break the Hunter's Dream

Cross-References

Related Documents

• World Foundation & Cosmology
• Institutions & Factions
• Characters & Plot Lines

Source Materials

Wiki Resources:

• Bloodborne Wiki (Fandom)
• Bloodborne Wiki (Fextralife)
• Souls Lore
• Lokey Lore

Analysis:

• Shadows & Sorcery Lore Series
• GameRant Deep Dives
• TheGamer Lore Explanations