Royal Rat Vanguard

There's kind of a lot of rats down here

    Have you ever wondered what was down that giant hole in the middle of Majula? You can see items glowing down there, and that first plank looks juuuuuust close enough to jump to and survive. It very well could be, if your HP is high enough I suppose. I bought the Silvercat Ring from that talking cat in Majula, and this ring reduces fall damage. I had horrible PTSD flashbacks to jumping down similar broken boards in Stonefang Tunnel to get to Flamelurker's den in Demon's Souls (that may still be the most irritating run from archstone/bonfire to boss in the whole series). But, once you are down this hole, you find yourself in the Grave Of Saints. It's a very Catacombs-looking area, but it's adorned with rat statues and candles. I like the look of this place. After you get through the small area (with several, several, locations to place Pharros Lockstones. Hhmm) you find a bonfire (!!) right in front of a fog gate. How do you like that? A bonfire right near a boss? Like ten steps away. Certainly nice if you die, but this boss is not very hard, so chances are you won't be dying much. Why couldn't this have been outside Lost Sinner's room? But I digress.
    Leading up to this gate, you fight rats. Lots and lots of rats. Foreshadowing? Well, yeah, obviously. I know there is another boss with a similar name that must be past this, and from what I read, he's tough, but this one is pretty easy. It's the Royal Rat Vanguard! Strange, yet awesome, name. The room is perhaps a shrine/ritual sort of room, because it's full of those rat statues (and the statues depict the rats standing on hind legs, holding some sort of vase/jug. Odd). It's also got lit candles running along where the floor meets the walls. More candles in the walls. Once you walk in, there is no boss name, but definitely boss music. Then rats start pouring in. The same normal rats you've been killing. Dispatch them, but make sure not to get cornered, because you certainly can. There must easily be 15-20 in the room, and more take the place of the ones you've killed.
    Once you've killed ten (I counted to find the exact number), the eponymous Vanguard shows up. No, not that Vanguard from Demon's Souls, he's just a rat. He's got something resembling a mohawk on his head, running down some of his back. But he's a rat. He's the same size, and looks almost identical, to the normal rats.

The Vanguard, bottom-middle.

    You can see him in the (crappy) picture above. Besides the cool haircut, he's got a mean streak that's two miles wide. He's quite a bit stronger than the normal rats, and I think poisons upon contact. So once he hits you and takes 80% of your health, you're poisoned to boot. Gotta be quick with the Estus here. Luckily that's easy. Just run to the opposite side of the room, and heal. As far as strategy, there really isn't much of one. I blocked, and attacked, making sure they didn't swarm me. Once the Vanguard comes in, make sure you don't lose him. He one-shotted me at least twice. I don't know if it was because I wasn't at full health, or he REALLY is that strong, but stay alert. But hell, if you die, you're right back there anyway.

Told you he poisons you!

    I'm not sure what else there is to say. It's a simple battle, but there is opportunity to die. I did a few times (the first two times because I didn't even realize there was that Vanguard rat, and he was in with a group of regular ones, and he attacked me from that). At least we're getting another cool-looking boss room. And the overall atmosphere of the whole place reeks of death and the absurd. I know some information about the rats, but there's a strange air of bizarresness down here. It's like a cult or something. Final note, I got summoned once as a grey phantom, basically the moment I stepped into the area. This is part of the Rat Covenant I do believe. It didn't go well. I was killed very quickly. I'm having lag problems playing online, so I succumb to getting hit even though my shield is up. Not a full excuse, but it doesn't make PvP'ing very easy. With that being said, I'm interested to join the Covenant and mess around.

Times I died: 4
Difficulty: 3/10
Overall rating: 5/10 (one full point for the cool name)

I currently don't have anything else in the queue, but I have a feeling it'll be the next boss that's down here. I did abandon going through Harvest Valley, so I could go back there too. That remains to be seen.

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BOSS SOUL DESCRIPTION: "Soul of the Rat King's vanguard; The Rat King's loyal servant judges the worthiness of those who seek royal audience."