Seriously Dark Souls 2 would it have been so bad to include a cutscene or two other than the intro that had some type of story on there?

Seek the king... Got it. The King went hollow for some reason. Why didn't he light the 1st flame or become the dark lord?

The emerald Herald is a failed experiment that is holding out until hope fades... What?

I got the queen is actually a fragment of Manus from he Prepare to Die edition abyss boss who manipulated the King into invading the giants and spread the curse in Dragonleik.

Why are the giants monsters with holes in their faces instead of like he blacksmith or ranger from DS1?

What the hell did the King steal from the giants to piss them off?

Why is he Lord vessel smashed in the basement of the house in the beginning of the game?

Their seems to be a lot of places that could actually be pieces of Lordaron in DS2 like Solaires statues, Hiedes Tower of flame, is majula fire link shrine? is Dragonleik future Lordaron?

Things, stuff, reasons.

Pretty sure it's either the Lord Vessel or the First Flame.

The lore speculation thread is that way, but to answer some of them:

The Vendrick actively didn't want to become the dark lord since he was trying to fight the undead curse. He also didn't light the First Flame as he lacked the Giant's Kinship to access the Throne of Want.

The Emerald Herald was a creature created to put an end to somehow put an end to the undead curse directly. However, it was unsuccessful, and instead, she took on the role of directing undead towards lighting the First Flame instead.

These are possibly different giants from the blacksmith and Gough. Then again, you never see the latter two's faces in DkS1.

The stolen item was probably either the Throne of Want or the Giant's Kinship.

Is it actually the Lord Vessel, or just reused art asset? Either way, no known answer, though perhaps there is an empty lopsided pedestal right next to the shattered bowel. Perhaps it simple fell off its perch when the ground beneath it shifted?

Where are there Solaire statues?

Only if Drangleic isn't Lordran. If it is, it was probably the Throne of Want.

@mosespippy: It's the throne which is related to the first flame somehow.

@shadowskill11: You didn't say anything about Fenitos, how darest.

I don't know. I didn't get most of the story as usual. I didn't even know Nashandra was part of Manus? Or the other way around. I assumed Nashandra killed Vendrick at some point.

The Emerald Herald was created by the dragons to lift the undead curse. But they failed. She still has power and can use it to guide the chosen undead to light the first flame. But she is powerless on her own.

Apparently, Nashandra manipulated Vendrick to kill the Giants which led to the spread of the curse? And dragons try to lift this curse because...? The first flame needs to be lit because...?

I really didn't get most of the story to be honest.

Was the Emerald Herald created by the dragons, or created out of parts of dragons? I think she's more likely a product of Aldia than anything else. The multiple guardian dragons of the Dragon Aerie were also created/controlled by Aldia, and the Ancient Dragon itself was an artificial creation as well, a dragon body brought to life with a giant's soul.

I think people tend to interpret these stories way too literally. I think of it as mostly tales of a long forgotten land, with holes and pieces deliberately obscure and/or missing for us to fill the gaps with our own experience/creativity.

@turambar: I think she was an experiment on human dragon hybrids. A better version of those monsters in the water on the way to the Lost Sinner.