Sen's Fortress

"Sen's Fortress is an old proving grounds built by the ancient gods. It is the only route leading to great Anor Londo. Of course, most fools can't even find their way into that fortified deathtrap..."

— Andre of Astora

Sen's Fortress, (センの古城, "Ancient Fortress of Sen") is a location in Dark Souls.

Description

Sen's Fortress is a large, stone fort inhabited by an assortment of enemies, including Serpents, undead knights and Titanite Demons. It is notable for its many traps and environmental hazards that line the hallways, and is said to be an old proving grounds built by the ancient gods. It is the only route that leads directly to great Anor Londo.

It can be found by crossing the stone bridge leading out of the enclosure in the Undead Parish out of a doorway in front of the bonfire before where Andre of Astora is working. The fort can only be entered after ringing both of the Bells of Awakening.

Lore

After Lord Gwyn sacrificed himself to link the First Flame and prolong the Age of Fire, his sons followed his design of shepherding the humans to repeat his sacrifice and preventing the coming of a Dark Lord among them. Accordingly, at the foot of Anor Londo and behind the Undead Burg, the gods built Sen's Fortress on the only route leading to their city to serve as a further testing ground. The fortress would become the second main trial for the Undead that managed to overcome the first challenge of the Bells of Awakening and seeked to enter Anor Londo to receive the Lordvessel.

After ringing the Bell of Awakening placed on the Undead Church of the Undead Burg and in Quelaag's Domain the Chosen Undead would learn of their mission from the awakened Kingseeker Frampt at Firelink Shrine. The Primordial Serpent would tell them that their fate is to succeed Lord Gwyn and link the Flame to continue the Age of Fire and undo the curse of Undeath, directing them toward the Sen's Fortress, to be tested further and prove themselves worthy enough of entering the city of the gods where they would acquire the Lordvessel and continue their journey. After ringing the two bells, an enslaved Giant would recognize that an Undead has completed the first trial of their quest and open the gate to allow them to enter the fortress.

The structure was filled with many lethal traps including swinging blades, large rolling boulders and hidden ballistae traps to create the ultimate deadly challenge path. Many deadly enemies also guarded the fortress to hinder those who attempt to venture though. The main force of the defenders is composed of Serpent Soldiers and Serpent Mages, hybrids of humans and snakes with monstrous appearance and strength created by Seath the Scaleless to act as his jailers. Addotionally enslaved Giants were used as gatekeepers, living launchers of firebombs and loaders a machine which will send boulders rolling throughout the fortress, creating environmental hazards capable of destroying those who wandered around the location.

As the final challenge for those Undead that managed to venture past the fortress, the gods placed an Iron Golem, a construct with the purpose of acting as a guardian for Anor Londo. The golem is a hunk of iron that makes up its iron armor of immense weight and is equipped with a heavy iron axe capable of releasing a powerful blade of wind. It's animated by a core that the gods created by infusing the bone of an archdragons with the power of souls. The golem served its purpose well and, over the centuries, slayed countless heroes seeking to reach Anor Londo. For the few exceptional champions who would have managed to pass this further test, three Batwing Demons would have come to pick them up and transport them inside the walls of Anor Londo where their trials and the journey to obtain the Lordvessel would continue.

Centuries after Lord Gwyn's sacrifice, as the First Flame began to fade and the curse of Undeath to regain strength heroes and warriors from all different lands tried to reach Lordran and ventured to Sen's Fortress to try and reach Anor Londo. Very fre were successful, like the strongest Berenike Knight known as Black Iron Tarkus and a Warrior of Sunlight known as Solaire of Astora. However, most of them failed in their mission to conquer the fortress's challenges despite their multiple attempts over the decades, ending up trapped, hollow or only became additional roadblocks to further hinder future warriors. Amon them the famous sorcerer Big Hat Logan that tried to reach the Duke's Archives to seek Seath the Scaleless's knowledge, the Undead Prince Ricard a legendary hero that wandered the lands in a fateful ill-conceived journey until he ended up Undead and in Lordran and the Knight King Rendal and his Balder Knights that attempted to seek the Lordvessel and restore the power of the Flame to save their country plagued by Undeath.

Bonfire

The only bonfire in the area is located near the top of the fortress, in the area where the Giant throws firebombs down toward the player. To reach it, the player must immediately turn left upon crossing the mist barrier and spotting the first giant. After climbing the first flight of stairs, the player must run directly across to the second flight of stairs. After climbing the second flight of stairs, the player will be led to an open courtyard with scorch marks etched onto the ground along with a burnt corpse. To the right, there will be a broken segment of wall. Simply approaching and dropping down here will lead to the bonfire. The fall will cause minor damage to the player, and it is possible to die before lighting it.

Characters

• Big Hat Logan - He is found imprisoned behind a destructible wall. Freeing him requires the Cage Key or Master Key.
• Black Iron Tarkus (White Phantom) - His summon sign is in a tower past the fog door leading to the Iron Golem boss.
• Crestfallen Merchant (merchant) - He is located on the outdoor roof area, in a tower which is across a gap on the intersecting walkway.
• Siegmeyer of Catarina - He is initially encountered outside the gate to Sen's Fortress, and can later be found inside the fortress by the first boulder obstacle, near the Shotel.

Strategies

• There are many traps that line the halls of the fortress, but most can be trivialized by approaching an area cautiously and with your guard up.
  • The swinging blades on the narrow walkways can send a player careening to their doom, but never require mad dashes to bypass. By carefully looking for safe gaps in which to stand, the blades can be passed without ever needing to sprint or roll dangerously.
  • The large hidden ballistae traps are always denoted by a raised pressure plate on the ground before them. The projectiles can be harmlessly blocked with a shield for little to no stamina loss. Furthermore, the first few ballistae traps will only fire from in front of the player upon activation, but the last few will be placed in such a fashion as to backstab an unwitting player.
• The rolling ball trap is a tricky situation to contend with: initially, when a player first reaches it, it appears as though the direction of the balls can be manually controlled via the central mechanism, and while this is indeed true, the mechanism will actually reset itself should the player move far enough away. It will generally not reset while the player is on a potentially hazardous ball ramp / grove, but can reset if the player goes from one grove to the other, and will seemingly do so as if aiming for the player.
  • Interacting with this ball trap mechanism is necessary to reach certain optional sections of the fortress. Covetous Gold Serpent Ring can only accessed by filling the zig-zagging stair route with several balls, and Big Hat Logan's imprisonment area can be found by rolling a ball down the central ramp (the one facing the fortress' entrance).
• The trigger-able traps only react to the player's presence, but can be turned against enemies quite effectively. By luring a Serpent Enemy onto a swinging blade or ballistae path, these enemies can be dispatched with minimal risk to the player.

Enemies

Characters

• Griggs of Vinheim (hollowed)
• Undead Prince Ricard (hollowed)

Respawning

• Balder Knight
• Berenike Knight
• Giant (operating the boulder mechanism)
• Serpent Mage
• Serpent Soldier
• Serpent Mage (gravelorded)

Non-respawning

• Giant Gatekeeper (behind an illusory wall after climbing the ladder from the Titanite Demons)
• Giant Firebomber (top of fortress)
• Mimic
• Titanite Demons

Bosses

• Iron Golem

Notable items

Armor

• Black Sorcerer Set (corpse)

Keys

• Cage Key (corpse)

Miscellaneous

• Divine Blessing (chest)

Rings

• Covetous Gold Serpent Ring (corpse)
• Flame Stoneplate Ring (chest)
• Rare Ring of Sacrifice (chest)
• Ring of Steel Protection (chest)
• Slumbering Dragoncrest Ring (corpse)

Sorceries

• Hush (corpse)

Souls

• Core of an Iron Golem (drop)
• Soul of a Hero (corpse)

Upgrade materials

• Demon Titanite x6 (Titanite Demons - drop)
• Large Titanite Shard x2 (chest); x4 (corpses)
• Titanite Chunk x2 (Giants - drop)

Weapons

• Lightning Spear (Mimic - drop)
• Ricard's Rapier (Undead Prince Ricard - drop)
• Scythe (corpse)
• Shotel (corpse)
• Sniper Crossbow and Sniper Bolt x12 (corpse)

Notes

• It is possible to enter Sen's Fortress before ringing the Bells of Awakening by using a glitch that prevents the closed gate from loading.

Gallery

Promotional screenshot

Promotional screenshot

Promotional screenshot

Promotional screenshot

Promotional screenshot

Promotional screenshot

Opening the gate

Interior

Map of Sen's Fortress interior

Map of Sen's Fortress exterior/roof

Videos

Dark Souls How to pass Sen`s Fortress (Guide) + Bonfire