Originally Posted by DeepO
Speaking of dickering about,

Spoiler

are you sure you have explored Firelink Shrine thoroughly?

Thanks for this little prompt because at first I was sure that I had, but after a little bit of extra vertical exploration,

Another update:
After a disastrous couple of attempts to take on Four Kings; I aborted that challenge temporarily and decided to try and explore the Tomb of Giants.
What a wonderfully grim and forboding experience! An intense area full of its own type of menace where the dark plays a vital role. I slowly found my way to the scattered bonfires and kindled them in case it was the last.
The boss fight at the conclusion of this place (Nito) has some superbly sinister atmosphere. However, any reasonably observant player can take advantage of its creeping slowness and weakness to fire. My only point of advice to others would be to make sure you keep your divine weapon; which logically a player should do, if like me, you'd come originally from the Catacombs.

Next, I think I'll try to explore past the misty door at the top of Duke's Archives…

Originally Posted by DeepO
P.S.: If you think I´m spoiling too much, better say it, somehow I´m finding it hard to resist this stuff.

It's all groovy, mate. Ultimately, it's up to me to be spoiled as the game does have a knack for throwing up some nicely obscure details. It also has a way of rewarding players the more they dig, particularly with the minimalistic narrative delivery.