The Lords of Cinder are all heroes who have linked the First Flame and prolonged the

Age of Fire,
rather than become Dark Lords.
They are beings who have linked the Fire in a past age, restoring the power of flame and becoming
powerful ashen lords. The original Lord of Cinder was Gwyn, who connected his soul to the flame,
and began the never-ending cycle of Disparity, Light, and Dark. within the world. The Chosen
Undead from Anor Londo rose to become a Lord, and so did the Bearer of the Curse from
Drangleic, a land known for the Legend of the Linking of the Fire. The Lords, who have abandoned
their thrones, used their souls of ash and cinder as kindling for the Fire, to reenact the first linking.
There are five Lords of Cinder:
Abyss Watchers

Aldrich, Devourer of Gods

Lothric, Younger Prince

Ludleth of Courland
Yhorm the Giant

Lore Abyss Watchers

Location: Farron Keep

Undead warriors who acted in the dark, seeking out any sign of the Abyss, fighting a constant war
with its abominations. They "vowed to partake of wolf blood". Slightly ironic, or possibly on
purpose, as Artorias the Abysswalker's companion was Great Grey Wolf Sif.

Being of Farron, they were lonesome warriors proficient with the sword, and relied only on more
pragmatic spells.

It is unknown whether one or all of the Abyss Watchers linked the fire. Perhaps they worked as a
team to push back the darkness.

Theories

Why the Red-Eyed Watcher Attacks the Others

- Collapse Theory
Like Artorias, he was probably taken by the Abyss. Maybe they all were corrupted and killed each
other until only one stood. Perhaps they locked themselves away to prevent the spread of the
corruption, thinking that it would die there, with them.
The Watchers may have been caught in an endless cycle of killing each other because they were
tainted by the abyss. Since they are undead, they never truly die, so there was always another
tainted one rising to be killed again. They all shared one soul, so when one died, it's soul would be
absorbed back into the group, resurrect him. When you kill the last Watcher, you instead absorb the
soul, breaking the cycle.

One possibility for why the Watchers fell to the Abyss was that they were overtaken by High Lord
Wolnir, who fell into the Abyss and took them by surprise, corrupting some of them and turning
them on each other. The legion would snuff out a kingdom on the first sign of Exposure. So, they
became locked in an endless battle with each other while Farron was consumed by Abyss.

Lore Kaathe, the primordial serpent

Darkstalker Kaathe is a Primordial Serpent, like Kingseeker Frampt.

Kaathe greets the protagonist and tells his side of the story: that the player is not to renew the Age
of Fire by rekindling the First Flame, but is in fact the descendant of the one who possessed the
"Dark Soul", and shall be responsible in bringing about the Age of Dark. Kaathe will transport the
player to the Kiln of the First Flame in order to place the Lordvessel, and then instructs the player to
collect the other Lord Souls in order to confront Gwyn, Lord of Cinder.

Kaathe's intentions are very different from those of Frampt. He's the leader of the Darkwraiths, and
wants to see the Furtive Pygmy's plan come to fruition by recruiting Undeads with the Darksign, so
that they can become the new Dark Lord, heralding the Age of Dark. It's implied that he's the one
who manipulated the people of Oolacile to awaken Manus, and offering the art of Lifedrain to the
Kings of New Londo, indirectly responsible for Oolacile and New Londo's destruction.

If the Chosen Undead side with Kingseeker Frampt by placing the Lordvessel for him, Kaathe won't
appear after the Four Kings are killed. If the Undead already met Kaathe, the next time he is spoken
to he will scold the Undead and leave permanently.

Theories

The Inspiration for the Primordial Serpents

- Collapse Theory
The Mayans believed in a two-headed serpent. The serpent was responsible for transporting the
dead from the earth to the underworld. One head would swallow you from the earth and the other
would spit you out in the underworld. The art depicting the serpent even has a beard that is
reminiscent of the ones that the primordial serpents have in Dark Souls. The serpents being
imperfect dragons also seems to have its roots in western mythology as dragons and serpents were
often used interchangeably. The Mayans beliefs were also centred around the 'World Tree' which is
basically a tree that stretches from the underworld and through to the heavens so one could draw
similarities there with the arch trees.

Lore

Yuria is a mysterious character that appears after you find Yoel of Londor dead. She's a member of
the Darkwraiths, with the primary goal of bringing about the Age of Dark. Her master is the
primordial serpent, Darkstalker Kaathe.

Yuria is the middle of three sisters leading the Sable Church, and likely the whole, of Londor, the
land of the Hollow. Her younger sister's name is Liliane, and her older sister's name is unknown to
others.

In the Age of Ancients the world was unformed, shrouded by fog. A land of grey crags, arch-trees
and everlasting dragons. Then there was Fire, and with Fire came Disparity.Heat and cold, life and
death, and of course... Light and Dark.
From the Dark they came and found the Souls of Lords within the flame. Nito, the First of the
Dead; The Witch of Izalith and her daughters of Chaos; Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight, with his
faithful knights; And the furtive pygmy, so easily forgotten.
With the Strength of Lords, they challenged the dragons. Gwyn's mighty bolts peeled apart their
stone scales. The witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and
disease. Seath the Scaleless betrayed his own and the dragons were no more. Thus began the Age of
Fire...
But soon, the flames will fade and only Dark will remain. Even now, there are only embers and man
sees not light, but only endless nights. Amongst the living are seen carriers of the accursed
Darksign.