The city of Yharnam, a place of healing and miracles, is the destination of many foreign travellers seeking blood healing. The legend says that some type of sacred blood is used to help cure any type of ailment. And so it is that many travellers set sail to seek the sacred city and its great cathedral.
In the beginning, the city was ruled by the royal family in Cainhurst. The castle was accessible only through a bridge that connects to Hemwick, a small village by the west of Yharnam. The royal family ruled for many years and with the help of the biggest academy in the region, Bergenwerth, they managed to make great discoveries, thus advancing science and healing. Bergenwerth, which was accessible only to elite students, was a great place of learning… Or so they say, as the place concealed many dubious practices for the sake of knowledge seeking.
The head of the academy, Willem lead different excavations into the tomb of the gods that lay beneath the city of Yharnam. In doing so, scholars had discovered a holy medium that allowed them to heal any kind of injury or illness using blood. The source of the blood remained unknown, and the practice of blood healing had created a split within the academy. Willem and his closest apprentice, Laurence, didn't agree on the use of blood in order to heal illnesses. Willem saw it as cursed practice while Laurence saw in it the fruition of all their efforts in order to bring mankind to the next step in their evolutionary cycle.
Both Willem and Laurence were seeking the same objective. Albeit differing on the method to use, both longed for humankind's evolution into another realm, into godhood itself. The discovery of the tombs of the gods below the city had started an evolutionary movement within the academy. Their theory was that ancient beings inhabited the city of Yharnam beforehand and had managed to make contact with greater beings called the "Great Ones". Great Ones were worshipped as Gods and used to communicate with the Pthumerians, the ancient inhabitants of the city of Yharnam. That communication with the Great Ones allowed the Pthumerians to ascend to a new level of existence, enhancing their physical abilities and allowing them to use powers akin to magic, arcane powers. Furthermore, an average Pthumerian could live longer than humans by a long stretch. Evidence of that was provided when scholars encountered few of them during their numerous tomb excavations. Pthumerians have become only shells, serving to guard the tombs where the gods are buried. Killing one of them takes immense power and reflexes. Many scholars had lost their lives going into the tomb where the first Pthumerian was encountered until hunters came into play.
Among the first hunters was Gherman. Some say he was the first hunter, others say that he helped create the order of hunters. Hunters were extremely agile and fearsome fighters. They fought using trick weapons that transform according to the situations they were in. With the help of Laurence, Hunters had discovered an even more powerful tool to make themselves almost invincible: Blood Ministration.
By injecting oneself with the blood scavenged from the holy medium discovered by Laurence and his followers, one could heal from any injury instantly by just injecting a small syringe into their bloodstream, making hunters even more aggressive and fearsome. With the help of the hunters, Laurence had split from his master at the academy of Byrgenwerth and set off to Yharnam to create the healing church. The establishment of the church ushered a new age for Yharnamites, nuns administered blood healing to everyone. The process would go as follows; nuns would go through blood ministration and mix Old blood to their own. They would imbibe the blood continuously as long as they are part of the healing church. By mixing her blood with the Old one, a nun can administer blood healing to any and all by simply injecting them with her own blood. And so, the healing properties are transferred to ailing humans but the enhanced reflexes and physical abilities do not pass on to them. Or so the church thought…
For years, blood was administered at the healing church, and pilgrims from all over the worlds started coming to the city with hopes of healing. The church had gained in fame and power and settled at the top part of the city, called the Cathedral Ward. Getting access to the church became harder and blood started being manufactured. Blood would be then sold in bottles in the Cathedral Ward and in Central Yharnam. The taste of blood was addicting, and at the same time intoxicating. People would rush to consume it in numbers and the number of nuns at the cathedral had multiplied since then in order to face the increasing demand.
On the other side of town, the royal family in Cainhurst did not appreciate the fact that the church had started gaining more power. Blood started being venerated as a holy practice and the Great Ones were looked upon as Gods of that new movement. A religion had started to form around Blood ministration and Cainhurst Castle had to step in to reaffirm their position as rulers of the city. Luckily the queen had one of her faithful spies bring back a sample of the blood used for blood ministration. That sample was brought back from Byrgenwerth as the spy had infiltrated the academy as a scholar. The castle started then developing their own method of blood ministration which led to unpredictable consequences. The people at the castle became known as vilebloods for the nature of the blood they had used in the first place. The spy, confusing it with Old Blood had given the queen a forbidden one that changed the people imbibing it into blood starved beings, hungry to consume more. Big feasts were held at the castle and the people invited to go over and attend it had never come back. This led to a big split between the church and the castle, both becoming mortal enemies to each other.
In the meantime, tragedy struck the lower parts of Yharnam. Blood healing had begun in order to heal diseases deemed incurable. However, some people in Old Yharnam started manifesting some bad side effects. The more blood they imbibe, the sicklier they become. Coughing blood was the first sign of the side effect, then came extreme increase in body temperature followed hallucinations and aggressive behavior. Gherman, the hunters leader had decided to hunt the aggressive folk and led a small group with him into Old Yharnam. What they saw in the dark streets of the old city had confirmed their fears. There were no sick people, only beasts that come at night to hunt humans. It seemed that by using the Old Blood, humans had brought the wrath of the gods on them, unleashing beasts to feast and punish the sinners.
Hunters on the other hand, had the situation in control and ordered the people to hide inside their houses on nights of the hunt. The nights of the hunt happens every full moon, that's when the beasts show up and the fight begins. Gherman recruited and trained more hunters in order to help with the numerous hunts and blood ministration was given to those chosen hunters in order to enhance their capabilities. Hunters multiplied in numbers but the beasts kept on coming. Yharnamites became used to the hunts and closed themselves up in their houses every full moon night. Gherman and Laurence rose to power and controlled the safety of Yharnam while Queen Annalise in Cainhurst castle retreated and didn't show her face to anyone ever again. No one knew what had happened to her or why she disappeared. Our story takes place hundreds of years after these events.