BLIGHTPUS AND THE ENGORGED

more painted world speculation!

this post will focus on pyromancy and possible linking of dialogue found elsewhere in the game to enemies/events in the painted world.

first of all, xanthous king Jeremiah. i've heard a few people mention the possibility that Jeremiah is in fact Salaman, the previous apprentice of Quelana. This is a very viable theory, especially considering Jeremiah uses chaos pyromancies, though its should be noted that Miyazaki has stated in interviews that Salaman only exists in dark souls in name only, so it may be unlikely. of course that makes Jeremiah even stranger than his appearance already makes him appear (which to be honest, makes me even more intrigued with him. he comes across as simultaneously absurd and menacing. a strange combination)
I personally think that the hollow inhabitants of the painted world are Jeremiah's followers (especially if the term "king" is to be taken literally), the broken concrete cages found there being used to hold them before being sent to the painted world where they eventually turned hollow. i'm obviously using the fact some of the hollows (specifically the engorged hollows) also use pyromancy. Its easy to come to the conclusion that Jeremiah was seen as a threat to the gods.

something else intriguing is the fact the the engorged hollows burst out toxin when killed and  also can cast poison mist. the only other mention of such pyromancy is from the spells developed by Eingyi-

Unique pyromancy crafted by Eingyi,considered a heretic even at the Great Swamp. Create intense poison mist. Why was Eingyi driven from the Great Swamp?One only need cast this pyromancy, a perverse diversion from the art of fire, to find out.

(text from toxic mist pyromancy)

the pyromancies found in the painted world are stated to be "outland" pyromancies, so we can assume they were developed independently of Eingyi's works. Also the mention that poison and toxin (and its highly plausible this also applies to the acid based pyromancy found in the painted world) are seen as "peverse" fits very well with Jeremiah's strange and absurd appearance.

now, onto something else regarding Eingyi. when speaking to him at one point he states the following-

Worse than Undead, we are diseased, and unwanted.Like the grime of the Great Swamp.But my dear, Fair Lady! She cried for me…And swallowed the great Blightpus, despite Mistress Quelaag's orders to the contrary.

my personal theory is that the engorged hollows themselves are inflicted with blightpus, a possible side-effect of the prolonged use of "perverse" poison and toxin pyromancies. Though i must admit, other than the one line of dialogue from Eingyi there is no other mention of blightpus, its cause or effects are unknown, so i could be completely wrong. Its totally plausible that blightpus is just an affliction like a disease that he contracted either in the great swamp or in blight-town swamp itself.

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and one last thing; a while back i'd read someones theory that xanthous king Jeremiah was created (in addition to the obvious reference to the old monk in demon's souls) in reference to "the king in yellow" (xanthous meaning yellow). from the wikipedia

The King in Yellow is a collection of tales of the supernatural by Robert W. Chambers, named after a fictional play with the same title that recurs as a motif through some of its stories and first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895.Described by S.T Joshi as a classic in the field of the supernatural, it contains 10 stories, the first four of which, "The Repairer of Reputations", "The Mask", "In the Court of the Dragon" and "The Yellow Sign", mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it.

the king in yellow was also used/referenced by several other authors, notably  HP Lovecraft being one of them. The idea of the lost kingdom of Carcosa, that the king in yellow was to preside over, fits with lost civilization themes found in dark souls very well.
all speculation of course (with very little to back it up, other than the fact Jeremiah has the terms "yellow"(xanthous) and "king" in his name) but i must admit i really like the idea that this is the source of the reference