When first met
"Oh, thou'rt Unkindled, and a seeker of Lords.
I am Ludleth of Courland. Look not in bewilderment as I say.
I linked the fire long ago, become a Lord of Cinder.
If substantiation be thy want, set thine eyes upon my charred corpse.
This sad cadav'r. No need to be coy, have a closer look."
When selecting "Talk"
"Knowest thou of our purpose?
Five thrones will take five Lords, as kindling for the linking of the Fire.
The fast fading Flame must be linked to preserve this world.
A re-enactment of the first linking of the fire.
So it is, I became a Lord of Cinder. I may be but small, but I will die a colossus.
When returning to him
"Ah-hah, thou'rt returned. And a fine day it is. So, happened upon any twisted souls?"
When given Transposing Kiln
"Oh, belike it is…a transposing kiln in thy possession.
Seen better days, but, methinks it shall suffice.
Now, bring to me a twisted soul.
Transposition is the art of extracting, and coalescing, the essence of a soul.
In transposing a twisted soul, its true power transferreth to thee.
Thy purpose is to seek Lords, and slay them. What's to fear in a little transposition, now?"
After helping Anri defeat Aldrich
"Ahh, well met. Thou'rt at last returned.
Knowest thou the name, Anri of Astora?
The brave girl left this, as thanks.
Though gave no elucidation…"
Then when leaving
"Now, heed this little warning, from this little lord.
Seek not the girl.
She knoweth her fate. What will become of her upon her duty's end.
She would not wish thee follow her."
If you have the Firekeeper Soul
"Scenes of betrayal, things never intended for her ken, visions of this age's end.
Treat the fire keeper not with discourtesy."
When leaving after all Lord souls have been placed
"Speak with the Fire Keeper. She awaiteth thee. She hath waited a long time indeed."
When respawned after being killed
"Ahh, it singeth, to the bone, it hurts…
Please, help me. Be done with me…
No, gods, no, I cannot bear it…
It burns, burns, help me…
Ahh, beg pardon. I must have dozed a while.
Fret not, fret not, my feet are here, firmly planted.
For I am a lord, and this is my throne."
Another Dark Souls 3 Theory (SPOILERS)
Alot of people pose the theory that Ludleth is the Soulkeeper. However, what if WE, the Ashen One/ Unkindled, are the Soulkeeper resurrected?!
First off, we know that when someone links the flame, they become "kindling" to the flame and become a Lord of Cinder. That being said, as the Unkindled, to me that sounds like we, at some point in the past, REFUSED to link the flame and therefore didnt becoming "kindling" to the fire (hence, Unkindled). That would explain the opening scene's line about "accursed Undead unfit to be cinder" (we didnt become a Lord of Cinder).
Ludleth complicates things a bit. Through his dialogue, and even more importantly, the ring he drops when killed, brings me to this theory. WE are the Soulfeeder reincarnated. Ludleth hints at two important things in his dialogue: 1) that he WILLED himself to be a LoC and 2) when talking about the Untended Graves, that Dark Age was brought on by betrayal.
What if the Soulfeeder was Corland's Chosen undead destined to become a LoC, betrayed his duty, and became the first to let the fire fade (I say "first" because I dont know if there has been a Dark Age since Gwyn linked the fire. If the Soulfeeder was not the first to let it die, it doesnt really affect my theory). Ludleth, who was a master soul transposer also from Courland, tracked him down, killed him, and turned his soul into the ring. Ludleth then threw himself, with the ring, into the fire (thus, "willing" himself to be an LoC).
Note: Alot of people claim that if you kill Ludleth, it doesnt say "Lord of Cinder" destroyed. I think that's a game mechanic thing because if you reload at a bonfire he shows up again.
Now, what if the "punishment" for refusing to link the fire caused the Soulfeeder to become an Unkindled "bounty hunter" cursed with tracking down other LoCs who are on the same path. Sort of like a second chance at redemption for us. As the opening states, "Ash seeketh Embers." We were killed and became ash and long for redemption by linking the fire and becoming embers. As we know at the beginning of DS3, the "link to fire is threatened" because Lothric refuses to link the flame. So the firekeeper rings the bell to wake the old LoCs to save the fire (second line of defense) but they refuse too. Finally, we, the Unkindled, rise as the last line of defense to hunt down and MAKE (via violent means) the LoCs return by taking their souls and linking it ourselves or, once again, deciding not to.
To sum up: In another time, we were the Soulfeeder and were tasked with becoming an LoC. We betrayed that duty, were killed by Ludleth, and he became an LoC instead. As punsihment for our betrayal and as an opportunity for redemption ("Ash seeketh embers") we became the Unkindled, a being tasked with hunting down anyone/thing who chooses to follow us on our path and not link the flame.
Other important things to note (that I havent found a way to smoothly add in above):
- Ludleth's throne clearly wasn't made for him, like all the other thrones were custom to their LoCs. It definitely seems more fitted for us.
- After we refused to link the fire, the firekeeper had a vision of what would happen if the fire died. She showed this vision to Ludleth which, fearing this prophecy, caused him to kill us (the Soulfeeer) and throw himself into the fire to link it.
- The biggest "wrench in the works" is finding out how the two variations of Gundyr fit into my theory…
Anyway, let me know what you all think!