Adeline

Adeline is one of the Research Hall patient found in the laboratory of said place, on the first floor of said area. She is shackled to a chair and asks the Hunter for Brain Fluid. She is also a Blood Saint according to her dialogue and can offer her blood as thanks for helping her. She also implies that she was one of the patients Lady Maria was taking care of.

## In-game Information

*This information comes directly from the game, or from official supporting materials.*

Blood of Adeline

*Blood taken from Adeline, patient of the research hall. Restores HP, and continues to rejuvenate HP for some time.*
*Adeline was originally one of the Blood Saints who received treatment by the Church to cultivate worthy blood. Adeline's was one of the few cases that turned out favorably.*

Enlarged Head

*An enlarged head of a patient of the Cathedral, with a cavity that just happens to fit a human head, although one would be mad to try it on.*
*But if you do, listen carefully, for the sticky sound. Drip, drop. As water, seeping up from the depths, slowly, steadily.*

Brain Fluid (From the Enlarged Head at the top of the Research Hall)

*Greyish amoeba-shaped brain fluid. Wobbles and bounces.*
*Extracted from a patient whose head expanded until that was all that they were.*
*In the early days of the Healing Church, the Great Ones were linked to the ocean, and so the cerebral patients would imbibe water, and listen for the howl of the sea. Brain fluid writhed inside the head, the initial makings of internal eyes.*

Brain Fluid (From the Enlarged Head near the Black Church Hunter NPC)

*Greyish amoeba-shaped brain fluid. Wobbles and bounces.*
*Extracted from a patient whose head expanded until that was all that they were.*
*Once, a young girl had an older brother who was determined to become a doctor, and so she wilfully became his patient. In the end, this led to their encounter with the Eldritch Truth, for which they considered themselves blessed.*

Brain Fluid (From Adeline herself)

*Greyish amoeba-shaped brain fluid. Wobbles and bounces.*
*Extracted from a patient whose head expanded until that was all that they were.*
*We fail to realize our own latent potential, until the moment it is lost, and we sense its absence. Ironically, this is the very nature of insight, like the moment one licks one's own blood, only to be startled by its sweetness.*

Balcony Key

*Key to the balcony on the first floor of the Research Hall.*
*Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower gave this to the patient, Adeline. Maria had hoped Adeline would find comfort in the faint breeze that carried the scent of flowers from the outside, but Adeline couldn't fathom her intentions.*

Milkweed

*A Caryll rune envisioned by Adeline, patient of the research hall.*
*A transcription of the inhuman, sticky whispers that reveal the nature of a celestial attendant.*
*Those who take this oath become a lumenwood that peers towards the sky, feeding phantasms in its luscious bed. Phantasms guide us and lead us to further discoveries.*

Adeline (First encounter)

*Is that you, Lady Maria? No, you're someone else.*
*Well, perhaps you could help me all the same? I can't move at all, I'm afraid. But I need Brain Fluid. Murky, mushy Brain Fluid. Help me hear the sticky sound, I've gone so long without it...*

Adeline (After giving one Brain Fluid and accepting her blood afterwards)

*Ohh... it's wonderful. And, oh! I hear the sticky sound. Do you hear it, too?*
*Oh, I know. Will you have my blood, as thanks? I'll have you know. I was once a Blood Saint, too. So, do come back, if you ever run dry of Saint's Blood.*
*That makes me happy. But I cannot move. Look, on my right arm. I'm sorry to trouble you, but you don't mind, do you?*

Adeline (If asking for her blood with either another special vial in the inventory or hers)

*Oh, there you are. Don't be greedy. As they say, Fear the thirst for blood. I should know. I was once a Blood Saint, too.*
*Oh, hello again... I'm very sorry. As I was a Blood Saint, I cannot break the tenets of the Church, even for you. Once you've run dry of blood, come visit me again.*

Adeline (Asking for more Brain Fluid and giving the Balconey Key after satisfying her request)

*Hello? Is that who I think it is? Please, oh please, I need Brain Fluid. The sticky sound is fading fast. Please, bring me Brain Fluid. I must have it... that sound, it is all that guides me... Without it, I'll be sent back... To my former, lesser years...*
*Yes, that's it, let me have it! Ahh... ahh! I can hear it, yes! That sound that guides me. Ahh... ahh... Thank you, thank you so much. You have saved me. Take this charm. Lady Maria gave it to me, but it is all I can offer, other than my own blood. Please, do not abandon me... I promise to do good...*
*Oh, hello, do you hear that? The sticky sound, as clear as day. Slip, slop... Drip, drop, slip, slop... How extraordinary. Do you think that water drips, even down deep below, at the bottom of the sea? Can you hear it? Drip, drop, slip, slop...*

Adeline (Asking for Brain Fluid a third time and granting her wish afterwards)

*Oh, hello... One last time, will you fetch Brain Fluid, just one last time? The murky, mushy fluid that will make me whole. The sticky sound whispers to me. So very close, right into my ear. My head, just a head, that's all there is. I need my baptism. Please, I beg of you... I want to be something...*
*Please, give me Brain Fluid. The sticky sound whispers, I need my baptism. Ahh, or perhaps, I'm already brimming over...*
*Ahh, ahh! Ahhh! Aahh! I see a shape. My guide, I see your voice, clearly, as it bends and bleeds. My own, revelation... just for me...Thank you. For everything...Really, I used to be nothing...*

## Description

*A description of facts about this subject, with minimal speculation.*

* Becomes an Enlarged Head after giving her two Brain Fluid and coming back.
* The final Brain Fluid she needs is obtained by hitting her in her pure Enlarged Head state.
* The Hunter receives the Milkweed Rune, a Madman's Knowledge, and two points of Insight after finishing her quest by giving her the final Brain Fluid.
* The Milkweed Rune in japanese is called "\*苗床 - Literally means ""seedbed"" or ""nursery."" In Japan a ""seedbed"" is typically an enclosed environment to protect seeds from things like bugs and diseases by placing seeds into sealed enclosures until the plants are strong enought to be transferred elsewhere.

## Theories

*Speculation and related theory documents, which should not be treated as fact.*

* Adeline successfully reached enlightenment and ascencion:

Most patients in the Research Hall talk about the water and the sound it makes, including the two other enlarged heads who each drop Brain Fluid, one of which belonged to a girl who was blessed with "an encounter with the Eldritch Truth". The Lake Rune description reads that "Great volumes of water serve as a bulwark guarding sleep, and an augur of the eldritch Truth. Overcome this hindrance, and seek what is yours". The same description also reads that the rune is a "transcription of the Great Ones' inhuman voices [that] ripples like a watery reflection". It can be inferred that the sound of water offers guidance to Adeline and the other patients towards the Eldritch Truth, associated with Great Ones as hinted by descriptions like the Augur of Ebrietas which a "remnant of the Eldritch Truth encountered at Byrgenwerth", as is water in general going by the aforementioned lake description and the first Brain Fluid's. The description of the first Brain Fluid listed implies that it generates eyes on the brain, which were sought by other persons looking to elevate themselves like Willem, as told by the Eye rune description, as well as Micolash going by his dialogue which, in the japanese and cut content, also mentions the "grand lake, clouded by grim". It is possible that upon receiving enough Brain Fluid, Adeline successfully ascends into a higher being, hence why she says that she "used to be nothing". She even says that she manages to see a shape, the voice of the entity, which could be a Great One, offering her guidance, which is probably an improvement over simply hearing the sound. She could have gathered enough eyes on the inside to witness the Eldritch Truth, right after licking her own blood after receiving the Brain Fluid she drops herself, since according to the description her latent potential would be reached at this very moment. The fact that she grants the Milkweed rune upon getting a revelation is another indicator of her ascencion, given the description and the many other links between plants, arcane, and Great Ones, such as the Moon Presence's second name "Flora", Willem looking like planted in soil in the artbook, the lumenflowers, etc.

* Adeline hears the sound made by the impurities in the water:

Adeline's dialogue and Enlarged Head description seem to insist on the depths of the water in particular. Water, in Bloodborne and other From Software games, are often associated with afterlives. The Lake rune description specifies that great volumes of water guard sleep, and Yharnam Stone that the Queen lies dead, but her consciousness is only asleep, and she can be encountered in the Moonside Lake and Mergo's Loft. "Sleep" is the keyword in both description, as it implies that Yharnam's consciousness reached the lake and nightmarish realms. The abyss in Dark Souls has an obvious water connotation in its name and is referred to as "realm of the dead" in the cut Wolnir's cup, idea that probably carried over in the game considering the description of the Tower Key which reads that the dead Firekeepers enjoy a long deserved rest in true darkness, terms that refers to the abyss going by Wolnir's related item descriptions. Déraciné also follows the idea with the river of prayer where the dead ends up, whereas the Ceremonial Tanto description in Sekiro offerings that were made by setting someone's life force adrift on the Fountainhead waters. It is a recurring pattern that the dead and the impurities that come with it end up in water. The narrator following the fight against the Orphan of Kos claims that the child return to the ocean, that he also refers to as a "bottomless sea". Micolash talks about how the grand lake is "submerged by mud" in his japanese and cut content dialogues, as does the cut Archibald character on the "the dirty mud bottom", presumably. In Dark Souls 3, Human Dregs, "heaviest things within the human body", are said to "sink to the lowest depths imaginable", in the Deep, also associated with water not only in the name but in other terms such as "Age of the Deep Sea". Emma in Sekiro talks about the Rejuvenating Sediments which is "a particularily concentrated part of Rejuvenating Waters". The recurring idea is that remains of living things are sent to the waters and sink to its depths in From Software games. Bloodborne could follow the idea, which would explain why Adeline and the other patients of the Research Hall hear the sound caused by the depths of the water, because this place in particular is animated.

## References

1. Thank you to bloodborne-wiki for their hard work gathering lore notes, item descriptions and dialogue.
2. To LastProtagonist for his translations of the Milkweed rune and Micolash's dialogue.
3. To Herbert West for sharing his theories regarding the links between plants and arcane, Brain Fluid and Adeline, and the impurities in the water, notably in his videos.