>>718273875
Not everyone who tried failed, it was just that nobody knew what worked, so each faction tried something different.
Byrgenwerth first thought the ocean was tied to ascension because Kos was the first Great One they encountered, and so tried forcefeeding "patients" huge amount of water to give them a greater connection to the ocean, and by proxy to Kos. This largely failed, though one patient, Saint Adeline, can ascend with your help. They then realized eyes were tied to Insight, which is related to ascension.
Wilhelm of Byrgenwerth then desired to try to ascend by gathering eyes. The Garden of Eyes enemies are seedbeds for eyes for him. During this time his student Laurence found the Old Blood in the chalice dungeons and wanted to use it to ascend. Wilhelm advised against this, but Laurence departed to found the Healing Church with it. Wilhelm was right, and Mergo's influence in the Old Blood caused people to descend to become beasts instead. But perhaps that's a form of ascension? Laurence's mind was trapped in the Nightmare, but his body became the Bloodletting Beast in the catacombs.
In the Healing Church two factions formed: the Choir and the School of Mensis. The Choir was founded after expeditions into the dungeon met with Ebrietas, and summoned her to the surface. The Choir sought to ascend people to become Great Ones with Ebrietas' help, and they succeeded. The Celestial Emissary is the result of their hard work.
The School of Mensis instead skewed to Wilhelm's teachings, seeking insight via a connection to the Great Ones, like what happened to the Fishing Hamlet villagers and Rom with Kos. Rivaling the Choir their attempted to create their own Great One as The One Reborn, but this failed. So they contacted Mergo and asked for insight, but Mergo, a stillborn infant, couldn't control his power. In granting Insight Mergo accidentally rendered the School all braindead, and began spreading the Scourge of the Beast through the Old Blood.
