In Bloodborne, the School of Mensis was a scholar order led by Micolash, one of Byrgenwerth's former splinter researchers. Its headquarters were in the Invisible Village of Yahar'gul, and it was initially closely associated with the Healing Church.
This area, not far from Yharnam, was hidden from its inhabitants' eyes. There were no civilians in Bloodborne who were aware of its presence - an indication that the research and experiments were unconventional, cruel, and macabre.
What Was at the Basis of Micolash's Creed?
Micolash's creed was founded on a solid understanding of arcanism, which he gained while studying at Willem's academy and exploring the Ancient Labyrinths of Pthumeru. As a good disciple of Byrgenwerth, he set the goal of learning and attaining the Extraordinary Truth of the Cosmos through contact with the Great Ones. And, like Master Willem, his goal was to achieve the highest level of knowledge (insight) possible, aided by the generation of the eyes within the brain.
Micolash, on the other hand, conducted his experiments on the defenseless inhabitants of Yahar'gul as well as those of Yharnam (including Hunters) kidnapped and imprisoned in the Hypogeum Prison, using real vivisection techniques.
Amygdala's Cult
The cult of the Amygdala, a kind of Great One met by the explorers of the School in the Ancient Labyrinths, represented another excellent research tool of Micolash and his followers. The constant search for truths superior to human knowledge was, for Micolash, a real obsession, so much so that it pushed him to put into practice unorthodox methods of contact between the students of Mensis and the Great Ones.
An iron cage was one of these, and it was used to encircle the researchers' heads. According to the School's doctrine, this cage served two purposes: on the one hand, it served as an antenna for cosmic contact with the Great Ones, and on the other, it imprisoned the insights so that they did not leave the brain. Gamers don't know whether Micolash's bizarre theories served any purpose, but what they do know is that Amygdala responded to the call, with several specimens inhabiting the entire village of Yahar'gul.
Mensis' Ritual
As mentioned, one of Micolash's research methods was the vivisection of unarmed bodies. The aim was to take organic material to carry out a blasphemous ritual, to reach knowledge, and to get in touch with the Great Ones. It is, in all probability, an ancient Pthumerian heritage, also learned during the exploration of the labyrinths. These types of relics, in fact, were the same ones that were used for the rituals of the Chalices, necessary to access the Ancient Labyrinths. Further, it is no coincidence that Micolash resorted to the help of ancient Pthumerian evocators.
In addition to them, the School of Mensis took advantage of the hags of Hemwick Charnel Lane, a group of sinister characters who lived on the outskirts of Yharnam. They were tasked with removing organic matter from corpses. The hags also performed this service for the Healing Church. The blasphemy of such rituals is what drove the Healing Church (and the Choir) to reject the School's methods. The Choir also dispatched emissaries to investigate and put an end to these activities. Such attempts, of course, were futile.
Organs, blood, and corpse sections, on the other hand, were insufficient to complete the ritual and were not enough to contact a Great One on their own. Instead, the most potent of the relics, the Third Umbilical Cord, was required: an ancient artifact originating with a Great One and the result of a conception with a woman of Pthumerian descent.
This Cord originated in the womb of the Pthumerian Queen Yharnam, who had been chosen as Oedon the Shapeless' surrogate mother for her son Mergo by Oedon the Shapeless. Micolash and her followers most likely found the pregnant queen in the labyrinth's innermost chambers, gutted her, and took the relic. The ritual could be completed with the Third Cord. However, the outcome was not what Micolash had hoped for.
Some Yahar'gul residents merged to form subhuman creatures like the Reborn, which are composed of aggregations of decaying bodies. Others were absorbed by the village's architectural structures, remaining trapped between the walls.
The School of Mensis scholars, on the other hand, received an audience from Mergo - Great One son of Oedon the Formless and Queen Yharnam - but their consciences merged into a massive brain of eyes and were trapped in a new plane of existence: the Mensis' Nightmare. The Brain was, in effect, a Great One, but he was doomed to eternal imprisonment within the Nightmare, Mergo's home. Even Micolash's conscience, despite being spared from the merger, was trapped in the Nightmare and condemned to insanity. At the same time, his body was left to rot in Yahar'gul.
The city of Yharnam was also impacted. In addition to revealing the Nightmare, the ritual brought back to life the Red Moon (or Blood Moon), an earthly representation of Oedon the Formless. This accelerated the effect of bestiality (a side effect of the infusion of the Old Blood) and allowed the plague of beasts to spread. As a result, the entire city of Yharnam became insane, died, or was transformed into a ferocious beast.
Archibald and the Dark Beasts
Archibald was a hunter and researcher who was fascinated by the so-called Dark Beasts, which were Pthumerian entities transformed into beasts by the blood plague that ravaged Loran. These creatures were born with the ability to use arcane lightning magic, generating electricity from their skin.
Archibald most likely became obsessed with these powers after exploring the Ancient Labyrinths, to the point of wanting to make them available to humans. His goal was to create weapons and artifacts that could replicate their effects: a crazy goal that could only be supported by the School of Mensis.
Paarl paid the price by becoming a prisoner at the Hypogeum Prison where such experiments were carried out. He was transformed into a Dark Beast due to the tortures, which presumably involved a massive infusion of Ancient Blood. Archibald's experiments did, indeed, result in the development of electrical weapons and artifacts (Tonitrus and Bolt Paper, among all). However, the Dark Beast Paarl paid the highest price of all when left to fend for itself in starvation.
Bloodborne is available now on PS4.
