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A COMPREHENSIVE PLOT GUIDE OF
THE LEGACY OF KAIN SERIES
Version 16.00
By LOKFanatic
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WARNING: THIS PLOT GUIDE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR: -
'BLOOD OMEN: LEGACY OF KAIN'
'LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER'
'SOUL REAVER 2 -THE LEGACY OF KAIN SERIES-'
'BLOOD OMEN 2 -THE LEGACY OF KAIN SERIES-'
'LEGACY OF KAIN: DEFIANCE'
IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED THAT YOU PLAY THE GAMES FIRST.
THE BEST INTRODUCTION TO THE LOK SERIES IS IN THE GAMES.
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ATTENTION:
THIS IS PLOT GUIDE AND HENCE ONLY *PLOT-RELATED*
QUESTIONS SHOULD BE SENT TO MY E-MAIL ADDRESS.
DO NOT SEND GAMEPLAY QUESTIONS.
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Table of Contents
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1. Introduction
2. Update History
3. BLOOD OMEN: LEGACY OF KAIN [1996]
i) The Plot
ii) Conclusions
iii) Observations (54)
4. LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER [1999]
i) The Plot
ii) Conclusions
iii) Observations (69)
5. SOUL REAVER 2 -THE LEGACY OF KAIN SERIES- [2001]
i) The Plot
ii) Conclusions
iii) Observations (85)
6. BLOOD OMEN 2 -THE LEGACY OF KAIN SERIES- [2002]
i) The Plot
ii) Conclusions
iii) Observations (135)
7. LEGACY OF KAIN: DEFIANCE [2003]
i) The Plot
ii) Conclusions
iii) Observations (169)
8. Question and Answer Section
i) General Series Questions (49)
ii) Blood Omen: Legacy Of Kain (26)
iii) Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (22)
iv) Soul Reaver 2 -The Legacy Of Kain Series- (33)
v) Blood Omen 2 -The Legacy Of Kain Series- (28)
vi) Legacy of Kain: Defiance (53)
9. FAQS by LOKFanatic
10. Authorised Sites
11. Contact
12. Copyright
13. Credits
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1. Introduction
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This is a plot guide for the Legacy of Kain series. Designed to help guide
all those confused LOK ('Legacy of Kain' for the not so bright) fans out
there through the elaborate Legacy of Kain series plot, this plot guide
includes detailed plot summaries, observations and analyses of all of the LOK
games released so far. There is also question and answer section to answer
some of the more confusing aspects of the series' plot.
So after a few months, dozens of headaches, neck cramps and comas, here we
are. I present to you, the Comprehensive Plot Guide of the Legacy of Kain
Series!
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2. Update History
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Version 1.00 Completed Friday 22nd August 2003
Finished all sections. Awaiting more questions and LOK: Defiance.
Version 2.00 Completed Wednesday 27th August 2003
Added Credits section. Expanded Observations and added more questions. Made
grammatical corrections.
Version 3.00 Completed Saturday 6th September 2003
Added more questions and Observations.
Version 4.00 Completed Saturday 13th September 2003
More Observations. Added interesting observations from readers including an
answer from 'Eric Chinault' on what the Seer's favour to Vorador is.
Version 5.00 Completed Saturday 20th September 2003
Thanks to 'ovejaelectrica', I have more SR2 Observations (As if there weren't
enough already, *40?!*)
Version 6.00 Completed Saturday 4th October 2003
More questions and observations plus a confirmed release date for Defiance!
18th November 2003 for the US! 45 days to go! Unfortunately, I live in the UK
and so I won't get it until after that so it may be a while before I update
with Defiance and allow Defiance questions.
Version 7.00 Completed Saturday 18th October 2003
Made the observations slightly easier to read. Added more observations and
questions. Several people have been sending me HTML e-mails recently. I can't
read these so don't send me them. 'ovejaelectrica' writes in to say that the
UK release date is 28th November. So, 31 days to go in the US and 41 days to
go in the UK until Defiance is released!
Version 8.00 Completed Monday 10th November 2003
Made grammatical corrections and improved sentence structure in plot
summaries. Reworded the Authorised Sites section. Added more observations and
questions. Defiance's US release date has been moved forward to 12th
November! That makes 2 days to go! Hopefully for European fans, like myself,
the European release date will also be moved forward. Just to remind people,
don't send me e-mails concerning Defiance until I have posted the version of
the Plot Guide with the completed Defiance section.
Version 9.00 Completed Friday 20th February 2004
Added a lot of new observations and questions to the BO, SR, SR2 and BO2 but
most significantly is that this is the Defiance update! The Defiance plot
summary, conclusions, observations and questions are up. Apologies for taking
so long but Defiance didn't come out in PAL regions until 6th February (not
28th November 2003 as was previously reported). Add to this the time I needed
to complete the game, analyse the story and rewrite other sections in light
of Defiance. You are all now free to send me Defiance related e-mails. Now
awaiting Defiance questions and Legacy of Kain 6.
Version 10.00 Completed Tuesday 9th March 2004
Added more observations and questions. Made grammatical corrections and
rephrased some sentences. Noticed some sections were still pre-Defiance and
amended according. Some surprising news this update, after almost ten years
of working on LOK, it was announced that Amy Hennig decided to move on and is
leaving Crystal Dynamics to join Naughty Dog. She will be greatly missed by
avid LOK fans around the world. In her place are Jen Fernandez, Richard
Lemarchand and Kyle Mannerberg, these three are very knowledgeable about the
series and Amy has left them her golden archive of LOK plot notes.
Version 11.00 Completed Saturday 3rd April 2004
Added more observations and questions as usual. Revised several sections. A
new album from the Information Society as been released that includes Ozar
Midrashim! It's called 'Pure Energy: The Very Best of the Information
Society'.
Version 12.00 Completed Saturday 8th May 2004
Did the usual additions. Revised the Defiance conclusions. 'C.Conliffe'
pointed out to me an error regarding the name of the character welding a
cardboard tube in Penny Arcade. Added Time Streamer to recommended sites.
Expanded several questions thanks to enlightening information in a Q&A from
Jen and Kyle on the Eidos Forums.
Version 13.00 Completed Saturday 17th July 2004
(For the superstitious of you, this is Version 12.50) Apologies concerning
the lack of updates in the past two months. I've been quite busy and as such
your e-mails may not be answered quickly. Made the usual observation and
question additions. Rewrote some sections of the Defiance plot summary. Fixed
an error in the Q&A section where I said Azimuth was the Nature Guardian.
'Melchiah' has written an excellent story guide on GameFAQs that I suggest
you have a look at.
Version 14.00 Completed Saturday 14th August 2004
Wow, this Plot Guide is almost one years' old. Just a reminder to you all
that this is not a gameplay FAQ and so please don't send me questions on
gameplay as several people have done recently. Also, please read through all
the questions and observations thoroughly before e-mailing me a question.
Anyway, did the usual observation and updates (and exceeded 100(!)
observations for Defiance!), plus now I've put in the number of observations
and questions on the contents section so that you readers can find out more
easily if these have been updated in future versions. Rewrote some of the
less descriptive parts of the Plot summaries.
Version 15.00 Completed Saturday 15th January 2005
Whoa, it's been a long time since the last update. Added a notice at the
start of the Plot Guide informing people not to send gameplay questions to my
e-mail address after receiving the 73682638th e-mail asking for gameplay
help. Moved this update history up earlier in the Plot Guide under the
suspicion that people don't read this since it was near the end. Added more
observations and questions. Added several new features - year of release next
to game section header, and the rear box synopsis of the games into the
introductory paragraph of each game section. Also, I'd just like to point out
to readers that Dark Chronicle has now an excellent SR map made by 'The
Necronoir' and Nosgothic Realm have the BO2 map from the intro FMV pieced
together from several screenshots.
Version 16.00 Completed Saturday 13th August 2005
The two year anniversary of this Plot Guide approaches. Apologies for the
lack of updates but there has been a lack of development of news in the LOK
world recently and I haven't been receiving as many questions as I used to.
Given the lack of news of a new LOK game at E3, I have to presume that a LOK
game will not be released this year. Added several new observations and
questions, revised a couple of answers, corrected some release dates and
rewrote some sections of the plot summaries.
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3. BLOOD OMEN: LEGACY OF KAIN [1996]
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Platforms: Sony Playstation, PC (Sega Saturn version cancelled)
First Released: 15th November 1996 (US), 1st March 1997 (UK)
Classification: M (US), 18+ (UK)
Published by: Activision/Crystal Dynamics
Developed by: Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics
Directed by: Denis Dyack
Produced by: Andy Trapani and Rosaura Sandoval
Music by: Steve Henifin
Written by: Denis Dyack and Ken McCulloch
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'An Eternity of Midnights
You're the vampire Kain, damned to feast upon the blood
of man. Steel yourself for an epic quest that will drag
you to the depths of depravity.'
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In mid 1993, Denis Dyack came up with a concept for a game called 'The
Pillars of Nosgoth'. Later, it was renamed to 'Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain'
and a decision was made to develop it for Playstation. Released in 1996, this
game places the player as an assassinated nobleman turned vampire, called
Kain, in his quest for vengeance and a cure from his vampirism.
The first Legacy of Kain title, this one is quite different from the rest
from the LOK series. This game is an overhead 2D action game. Not all LOK
fans have this game because either they are put off by the 32 bit graphics,
long load times or simply because they can't find it (I should know, it took
me *months* to find it in a bargain bin). Whilst most of the game is spent in
the 2D world, there are 15 Full Motion Videos in the game, totalling 35
minutes in all, which can be re viewed in the Dark Diary.
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i) The Plot
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'THERE IS A MAGICAL
OPERATION OF MAXIMUM
IMPORTANCE: THE INITIATION
OF A NEW AEON. WHEN IT BECOMES
NECESSARY TO UTTER A WORD
THE WHOLE PLANET MUST BE
BATHED IN BLOOD..'
In a field somewhere in the land of Nosgoth, the Sarafan, a holy order of
warrior priests sworn to eliminate 'the Vampire Plague', are placing staked
poles with vampires impaled upon them for all to see.
This scene is being watched through a basin of water by six members of the
Circle of Nine, a group of nine sorcerers sworn to protect the Pillars of
Nosgoth, an ancient edifice that preserves the health of the land.
Suddenly, the vampire Vorador bursts into the room and impales the nearest
Guardian with his sword. He then proceeds to kill the rest of the Guardians
with his magic powers hurling one guardian across the room and stripping
another of their flesh. The Guardians' own magic appears to be useless
against the vampire and they call for the Conflict Guardian Malek to protect
them.
However, he is nowhere to be seen. As Vorador draws the blood of the last
sorcerer into his mouth, Malek finally appears but finds all 6 Guardians
dead. Vorador suddenly appears behind him and strikes him down.
For failing the Circle, Malek is then put on trial. Mortanius the
Necromancer, Guardian of the Death Pillar, sentences Malek to serve the
Circle for all eternity. His soul is fused to his armour leaving his body
reduced to a skeleton.
5000 years later (note: this was later changed by Crystal Dynamics to 500
years), Ariel, the Balance Guardian is suddenly stabbed by an unseen
assassin. The Pillars of Nosgoth proceed to turn from pristine white to
cracked black.
Years later, in a tavern in the town of Ziegsturhl, a nobleman named Kain is
refused to be served. The barman refuses to be open at such late a time at
night. Leaving dejectedly, Kain is then suddenly ambushed by several
brigands. Kain tries to fight them off but eventually he is knocked down and
impaled in the back by his assassins' Iron Sword.
In the fiery Underworld, Kain awakens and finds himself chained up to two
posts, still with his assassins' sword still impaled through his chest.
Mortanius approaches him and offers to resurrect Kain so that he can exact
vengeance upon his assassins. Burning with anger, Kain accepts blindly.
Mortanius removes the sword from Kain and releases him. As Kain takes the
sword, he undergoes a sudden transformation as his skin and hair decay and
his Iron Armour changes colour from white to black. Kain walks through the
raging fires of the Underworld.
Returning to the world of the living, Kain discovers that the Necromancer has
transformed him into a vampire and as such has their weaknesses such as
extreme vulnerability to water and light. Undeterred, Kain proceeds to find
his assassins, who are given a great shock at seeing the dead man walk
towards them.
Discovering his new vampiric strength, Kain easily kills his assassins and
drinks their blood to restore his strength. Kain believes his quest is now
over but Mortanius corrects him. He tells Kain that his assassins were merely
the instruments of his murder, not the cause. He sends Kain to the Pillars of
Nosgoth for answers.
On the way to the Pillars, Kain contemplates how Mortanius had not given him
any warning of what his resurrection would entail. But Kain knows that his
burning lust for vengeance would have ignored any warning. Kain hopes to get
the answers he desires at the Pillars.
Kain arrives at the Pillars of Nosgoth and is struck by the beauty of them.
There he meets the spirit of the long dead Balance Guardian Ariel, half her
face scarred. Kain is initially apprehensive of her but Ariel alleviates his
fears. She tells Kain that following her murder, her lover Nupraptor, the
Mind Guardian, was driven to insanity upon discovering her body and due to
his being the Mind Guardian, he infected the other Guardians with his
madness.
Since the Pillars of Nosgoth reflect the mental state of their Guardians, the
Pillars became corrupted as the Guardians turned their powers to evil in
their madness. Ariel tells Kain that he must kill all 9 Guardians of the
Pillars in order to restore the Pillars, bring balance to the world and thus
find peace for himself.
Kain tells Ariel that he doesn't care about the fate of Nosgoth so Ariel
tells him that he should do this for himself. Before vanishing, she
enigmatically warns Kain about the 'Unspoken'.
Believing that killing the Guardians will cure him of his vampiric curse,
Kain proceeds to Nupraptor's Retreat. On the way, Kain gains the ability to
assume a Bat Form and fly to places in Nosgoth at will.
Further on, he passes the filthy town of Steinchencroe; one which he would
have never visited as a human. Now, as a vampire, he considers that he
himself now to be no better than its inhabitants.
In the town, he encounters a strange man, stirring a pot. He tells Kain that
although he is an outsider, if he knows how to look, he will find those who
will speak to him.
Arriving at the town of Vasserbunde, Kain sees a waterfall above which lies
the large skull shaped fortress of Nupraptor's Retreat, looming over
Vasserbunde.
As Kain heads towards the Retreat, he hears screams. He smiles at this; for
once, someone is suffering more than he is.
Kain learns that Nupraptor was once renowned for his telekinetic and
telepathic abilities and was sought after by many pilgrims from all over
Nosgoth. But Kain does not seek his powers but rather his death.
Somehow, Nupraptor is aware of Kain when he enters the retreat and demands
that he leave so that he can mourn in peace.
Inside the retreat, Kain finds one of Nupraptor's serving girls, petrified
and bloodied, chained to the wall. She explains to Kain that after Ariel's
murder, Nupraptor sewed his eyes and mouth shut in order to close out the
outside world. He now cares about nothing but himself. Kain knows that this
serving girl's scars will never heal; killing her would be in mercy.
Throughout the retreat, Kain is horrified to discover the piles of corpses
that Nupraptor leaves around his keep nonchalantly, considering it to be a
great waste of blood.
Kain finds the interior of the eyes of the retreat and looks through them. He
discovers strangely that whilst one eye portrays Nosgoth as it is, the other
is a warped and twisted parody. Kain muses that the warped image of Nosgoth
is little worse than the true Nosgoth.
Once Kain finds Nupraptor, he also finds Malek guarding him but the Mentalist
quickly dismisses Malek claiming that he will just fail him just like he did
to the Circle years ago. Malek obeys and leaves, leaving Kain to chase
Nupraptor into another room. In there, Nupraptor fires balls of energy at
Kain but he evades them and manages to strike at the Mentalist with his
sword, severing his head from his body. Kain takes his head back to the
Pillars as proof to Ariel that he has done the deed.
Back at the Pillars, Kain places Nupraptor's head before the Pillar of the
Mind and as it dissolves into the Pillar, it returns to its original pristine
white colour as it is restored.
Kain realizes that even though he has now destroyed the source of the
Circle's corruption, the corruption has forever tainted them and that it is
beyond redemption. All the members of the Circle need to be killed in order
to restore the Pillars.
But before Kain can even think about challenging any other members of the
Circle of Nine, he realizes that he will need to dispose of their protector
Malek the Paladin, who resides in his bastion far in the snowy mountains to
the north.
Ariel tells Kain that every Guardian has a token that binds them to their
Pillar. For Nupraptor, it was his head. A token from every Guardian is
required to heal the Pillars.
On the way to the former Sarafan's fortress, Kain returns to his former
hometown Coorhagen, now infected by a plague, with disease ridden corpses
littering the roads. Rumours of a disease destroying remote villages to the
east had reached Coorhagen but the rumours failed to prepare the city for the
plague. Worms and maggots are feeding on the corpses, and the blood is
tainted. Kain, beginning to embrace his vampirism, merely considers this as
'good blood gone bad'.
Reaching the mountains, Kain spots Malek's Bastion upon a snow topped
mountain. Kain wonders what kind of man would choose to live in such a harsh
lifeless environment.
Arriving in Malek's Bastion, Kain is taunted by the sound of Malek's voice.
He is attacked by suits of armour fused to the souls of lost dead warriors,
much like Malek but paling in comparison to his skill. Kain finds himself
weakened by being attacked by these soldiers and being unable to draw blood
from them to heal his wounds.
Kain proceeds to deactivate the machines that are fusing Malek's soldiers'
souls to the armour, all the while being taunted by the Paladin himself.
After destroying the power source to the machines, Kain goes to destroy Malek
himself.
On the way to the Paladin's throne room, Kain passes the long dead and frozen
solid guards at a doorway. Upon arriving in the throne room, he is greeted by
a grinning corpse. Malek claims this to be his corpse but Malek is far more
interested in Kain's corpse than his own.
Kain battles Malek and manages to knock Malek down, scattering the armour
across the floor. However, Malek reforms himself and continues the battle.
Kain battles on but every time he manages to knock Malek down, the armour
reforms. Eventually Kain forced to retreat via a nearby teleporter when Malek
summons a huge wave of energy that he cannot dodge. Empty handed, Kain flies
back to the Pillars in Bat Form and returns to Ariel.
Ariel sends Kain to the Oracle of Nosgoth who can give him information about
Malek. Kain goes east of Malek's Bastion to find the Oracle within a huge
complex network of caves. While exploring the caves, Kain comes across
various artefacts such as shields, armour, a blood stained guillotine and a
book. Reading the book, Kain learns how years ago, the Circle of Nine formed
the Sarafan Order to counter the 'vampire plague' and how effectively the
Sarafan, led by Malek, had exterminated vampires. The book claims that their
righteous wrath was second to none. Disgusted, Kain stops reading.
Arriving within a room with a cauldron, Kain meets the Oracle himself, a
hooded old man welding a staff. Kain demands answers but the Oracle appears
to take it too literally and asks for the questions to these answers he
gives.
'King Ottmar - the only hope to defeat the Legions of the Nemesis.
King Ottmar - paralysed by his Princess' malaise.
King Ottmar - the useless.'
Kain ignores the Oracle's words and demands to know who Malek is and how to
defeat him. The Oracle tells Kain that Malek is the last of the Sarafan, that
Malek is the protector of the Circle of Nine and that he once failed to
protect the Circle from Vorador causing his eternal sentence of the fusion of
soul to his armour. He claims that Malek has since allowed no member of the
Circle to fall ever since the massacre. Kain asks where Vorador is; the
Oracle tells Kain to follow the glow of 'Ignis Fatuus' to the Termogent
Forest. The Oracle then disappears leaving Kain alone in the cave.
Kain decides to find Vorador for aid in defeating Malek. Kain arrives in the
Termogent Forest to discover that the sunlight barely penetrates the trees.
Kain wonders as to the reason why Vorador would choose to live in such a
dangerous place seeing as the swamp is so perilous to himself.
Once Kain enters the ancient vampire's mansion, he is amazed by the luxury
and wealth that Vorador surrounds himself with. It is vastly superior to the
nobility of his former court. Exploring the vampire's mansion, Kain comes
across Vorador's brides who are nothing more than pets to him.
Further along, Kain finds Vorador's pantry, a room filled with men and women
dangling from meat hooks and chained to the walls. Kain finds his blood
thirst to be overwhelmed by the abundance. Kain learns of the sadistic nature
of Vorador when he arrives in a torture room with splattered with the blood
of humans all over the walls. The room echoes with dying screams and the
laughter of the vampire himself. On one of the walls, written in blood, is
'Manus Celer Dei'.
In the mansion, Kain finds a book telling how the number of vampires grew to
a number that alarmed the Circle of Nine. Hence they created the Sarafan
Order (also known as the Angels of Light) and thus the Vampire Purge began.
Arriving in Vorador's dining room, Kain finally meets the great vampire
himself. Kain is horrified by Vorador's inhuman appearance considering it to
be a vision of his future self. Vorador is glad to meet another vampire as it
is a rare occurrence for him nowadays, especially such a young and arrogant
one as Kain. He offers a goblet of blood to Kain, sending it over to him
telekinetically. Kain discovers that Vorador believes that vampires are gods
and humans are merely sacrifices for the vampires to enjoy and a means to
prolong their lives. Deep inside, Kain agrees with him even though he still
considers vampirism a curse not a blessed gift as Vorador claims.
Vorador begins an account of how he killed 6 of the Circle of Nine and
defeated their protector Malek. He then warns Kain not to meddle in the
affairs of man as it only brings further vampire crusades and unnecessary
hardships for vampires. Vorador then gives Kain his ring so if Kain ever
needs assistance, then the ring will summon him. Vorador then demands Kain to
leave.
Kain leaves the mansion with an ally for the future and the knowledge of what
he will become should his vampirism consume him.
Outside, Mortanius informs Kain through telepathy that there are three
Guardians to the north, who are twisting and shaping the land with their
powers to create a Dark Eden of theirs.
On the way, Kain passes the town of Uschtenheim, where it was rumoured that
long ago that the oldest vampire, Janos Audron, was born. In this town, he
preyed upon the humans until one day he was hunted down and killed when his
heart was torn out of his body.
Leaving Uschtenheim, Kain approaches Dark Eden, surrounded by a magic shell
continuously expanding and consuming the healthy land around into a twisted
parody. If not stopped, the shell will eventually consume all of Nosgoth.
Various sick and twisted mutants, created by the trio in Dark Eden,
repeatedly attack Kain on his journey there. Kain finds himself in admiration
for the creatively of these mutants.
When Kain passes through the shell surrounding Dark Eden, he is unharmed,
presumably because the shell only affects living beings or, as Kain muses,
because he himself is already twisted enough.
Progressing through Dark Eden, Kain finally arrives at the castle of the
three Guardians. At the top stands a tower, spewing out the energy that
desecrates the land below.
Exploring the castle, Kain finds it to be far larger on the inside than on
the outside, apparently due to the powers that the Guardians have to distort
space. Kain also finds the laboratory of Anarcrothe, the Guardian of States.
Within are pickled and dissected corpses and metal constructs. Kain senses
the presence of more than one being. He finds it odd that a sorcerer like
Anarcrothe would choose to work with others.
Finally confronting the three Guardians, Kain finds them to be, Dejoule the
Energist, Bane the Druid and Anarcrothe the Alchemist, Guardians of Energy,
Nature and States respectively. He is pleased that they have shortened his
search for all 9 Guardians. Dejoule and Bane are keen to face Kain but
Anarcrothe flees and summons Malek to protect them. Annoyed by the
Alchemist's cowardice, Kain uses Vorador's ring to summon the old vampire.
Malek exclaims that he will finally gain revenge on Vorador for his eternity
of suffering. Vorador replies that Malek has no idea what an eternity of
suffering is and demands that he grovel before him. Malek refuses and
threatens Vorador that he will dissect him and feed what's left to his
brides.
Kain catches sight of Dejoule and Bane fleeing and he pursues. The two old
foes battle each other, each displaying exceptional combat ability and use of
magic. As Malek manages to nick Vorador with his pike, the vampire turns to
Wolf Form and leaps on Malek...
Bane, knowing Kain's weakness, turns the ground under his feet into water.
Kain however transforms into his Mist form then quickly runs up to Bane and
kills him. Dejoule fires energy bolts at Kain but he protects himself with a
Repel spell and fires his own energy bolts at her. After the two sorcerers
are dead, Kain takes Bane's headdress and Dejoule's cloak, to be used in
restoring their Pillars.
Returning to Vorador and Malek, Kain finds the Sarafan's armour scattered on
the floor with Vorador nowhere to be seen. Vorador had apparently 'killed'
the Conflict Guardian. Taking Malek's helmet, Kain returns to the Pillars and
restores the Pillars of Conflict, Nature and Energy, each returning to
pristine white states.
Ariel then tells Kain the location of the next Guardian, Azimuth the Planar,
the Guardian of Dimension; Avernus Cathedral. The Cathedral lies in the heart
of the holy city of Avernus, where he will find three special items.
Approaching Avernus, Kain finds it in a chaotic state with buildings burning
to ground and burnt corpses lying everywhere. Kain soon finds the source of
this catastrophe, when he is attacked by demons from another dimension,
apparently summoned by Azimuth. After killing them, Kain approaches Avernus
Cathedral, the only building left intact as the demons apparently knew better
than to attack the place from where they came.
Navigating the Cathedral and its 'heaven' and 'hell' levels, Kain finds the
'Soul Reaver', a legendary weapon which thrives by consuming the souls of its
victims and the Wraith Armour, which uses magic to reduce the damage that
Kain sustains.
Deep within the Cathedral, Kain comes across a strange book with someone's
bloody handprints upon it. It talks about a god named 'Hash'ak'gik' demanding
the blood of its worshippers' first born otherwise they would face its wrath
eternally. Ominously, the book tells that this was actually done.
As Kain is walking through the Cathedral, he suddenly notices a stained glass
ceiling above him depicting the battle between Vorador and Malek, all those
years ago.
After finally meeting Azimuth, she comments on how she thinks the Soul Reaver
and Wraith Armour would be better in her possession before teleporting
elsewhere. Finding her, she summons many demons to attack Kain but once he
dispatches of them, Azimuth herself is easily killed. After taking her third
eye as the restoration token of the Pillar of Dimension, Kain curiously finds
a Time Streaming Device nearby.
Returning to the Pillars and restoring the Pillar of Dimension, Ariel
explains how Azimuth stole the Time Steaming Device from Moebius, the
Guardian of Time, to bring demons from other time eras.
She then goes on to warn Kain of the approaching Legions of the Nemesis
devastating everything in their path. She explains about how the Nemesis, not
so long ago, was once William the Just, a kind and caring ruler but was
corrupted by power and so began a conquest of Nosgoth.
She urges Kain to gain the support of King Ottmar of Willendorf and his army,
the only force in Nosgoth capable of stopping the Nemesis. Following Ariel's
advice, Kain ignores Vorador's counsel of staying out of human matters and
proceeds to Willendorf.
As Kain heads to Willendorf, Mortanius contacts him and tells him that his
quest ahead is now his and his alone. Mortanius can no longer help him.
Kain attempts to enter Willendorf with his regular human disguise spell but
is refused entry. Apparently, only figures of noble heritage are allowed
entry into the city.
Kain discovers that Willendorf was involved in digging and mining in some
mines nearby. In the process they had uncovered many secrets and metals.
Kain hears about an ancient tomb of one of King Ottmar's ancestors deep
underground. He enters the Provincial Mines and finds a blood fountain there,
which gives him 'Beguile', a disguise giving Kain an appearance of nobility.
With this disguise Kain is able to enter the great city. Within he stops by a
library and finds only two books that interest him. The first speaks of the
Circle of Nine protecting the Pillars of Nosgoth. Kain learns from the book
that the Pillars have a preserving effect upon Nosgoth. Whenever a member of
the Circle dies, the Circle is broken until a worthy successor is born to
replace him/her.
The other book speaks of a strange cult that travelled around Nosgoth with
tales of human possession soon following them. The book does not tell Kain
who the god that they worshipped was.
Within the Palace of King Ottmar, Kain heads towards the throne but a man
bars his passage, telling him that the King is mourning and will see no one.
Kain grabs him, pushes aside and heads into the throne room, he sees Ottmar,
mourning for his daughter, who lies motionless on a bed before him. Ottmar
tells that on his daughter's birthday he declared a contest to create the
finest doll in all of Nosgoth. The winner would be granted a royal favour.
The winner was Elzevir the Dollmaker and he simply accepted a lock of the
Princess' as his prize.
Soon after, the Princess lost her soul and became a lifeless puppet. Ottmar
himself became depressed and not caring about anything but his daughter.
Ottmar offers his kingdom to the one who restores his daughter. Kain leaves
to find the Dollmaker.
Kain muses that in his court, Ottmar would have been replaced but here in
Willendorf, they worshipped him. Kain wonders what will happen when Ottmar
dies.
Kain realises that in their current state Ottmar's Armies of Hope will not be
able to fight the Legions of the Nemesis, as they are all scattered
throughout Nosgoth busy searching for the Dollmaker. He hears of a tunnel
that will take him to where it is suspected Elzevir resides.
Kain goes in search of the Dollmaker to the north. On the way he passes
Stahlberg, once one of Nosgoth's most academic cities now laid to waste by
the Nemesis.
In the ironically named Lake of Lost Souls, Kain finds the Dollmaker's
mansion and meets the odd little man himself. The Dollmaker summons animated
dolls to attack Kain but Kain destroys them all, kills Elzevir and
decapitates him. Kain finds that Elzevir imprisoned the Princess' soul inside
a doll and wonders about his motives.
Kain returns to Willendorf with the Dollmaker's head in one hand and the doll
in the other much to the great delight of the King. Ottmar's sorcerers
quickly restore the Princess' soul to her body. Ottmar offers his kingdom to
Kain but he refuses asking for his army instead. Ottmar agrees and joins Kain
in his battle against the Legions of the Nemesis.
In a battlefield somewhere, the Legions of the Nemesis are approaching the
Armies of Hope. King Ottmar gives words of encouragement to his army before
launching into battle. In the battle, Kain's blood thirst is overwhelmed by
the dying soldiers everywhere.
Willendorf's soldiers fight valiantly but are soon overpowered by the
Nemesis' troops. Soon, the King himself is killed, fearing for the safety of
his daughter and Nosgoth in his last moments. The Armies of Hope flee into
the forests and now Nosgoth belongs to the Nemesis. With no other option,
Kain uses the Time Steaming Device that he found on Azimuth, to escape.
Soon, the ground that was once covered in blood and dirt becomes greenery and
everything becomes quiet. The Time Steaming Device lies in pieces at Kain's
feet; he is apparently stranded in this time era. After killing a human, Kain
looks into his mind and sees Moebius at a rally near a castle, demanding to
be taken to King William the Just, so he can deal with the vampire scourge.
After the vision ends, Kain walks north to the Land of the Nemesis but finds
it to be the Land of William the Just. Kain realizes that he has been
transported 50 years back in time. Kain decides to kill the young William the
Just so that in 50 years time, the Nemesis will not exist.
Inside William's castle, Kain finds Moebius talking to William, he warns him
about Kain and gives him the Soul Reaver. Moebius and William leave the room.
As Kain confronts the future Nemesis, the two warriors both battle with the
Soul Reaver, with Kain coming out the victor. Confident that he has changed
history for the better, Kain kills the guards rushing to save William. Almost
too conveniently, Kain finds another Time Steaming Device and returns to his
time.
Outside William's stronghold, there is no sign of battle. But Kain senses
something is wrong, to the south, he can hear screams and the odour of
vampiric blood. Encountering vampire hunters, Kain realizes that by killing
their beloved King, he incited the rage and vengefulness of the humans to
such an extent that they began a genocidal crusade against vampires.
On the way to the place Kain hears the cheers, he passes the city of
Stahlberg, in this timeline, untouched by the armies of the Nemesis.
Kain proceeds to a huge mob where Vorador is beheaded by guillotine. The
executioner proudly holds the severed head in the air. In a shocking
revelation Moebius reveals that Kain is the last vampire in Nosgoth and sends
the mob after him. After dispatching of the mob, Kain realizes that Moebius
is the Oracle of Nosgoth and by following his advice, that Moebius had
successfully orchestrated his entire journey.
After disposing of warriors summoned by Moebius from the past, present and
future, confronts the Time Streamer himself. Moebius tells Kain that he has
seen Kain's future, in it he dies; but Kain tells Moebius he is already dead,
just as Moebius is. Kain swiftly decapitates him and takes Moebius'
hourglass. Mortanius congratulates Kain and summons him back to the Pillars
for the 'grand finale' where he shall finally gain his revenge. Kain flies in
Bat form back to the Pillars.
At the Pillars, Kain finds Mortanius and Anarcrothe arguing. Hiding behind a
Pillar, Kain listens in. Anarcrothe scolds Mortanius for betraying the
Circle, but Mortanius claims that the Circle had to be destroyed because it
had failed its duties. Anarcrothe arrogantly argues that the Circle exists
for them and demands Mortanius join him or die. Mortanius refuses. Anarcrothe
fires green blasts of energy at Mortanius but the Necromancer merely absorbs
them before launching an electrical attack upon Anarcrothe, slamming him into
a Pillar and telekinetically snapping his spine.
Kain reveals himself and says that Mortanius himself will have to be killed
for the Circle to be restored. Mortanius accepts his fate but before he does
battle with Kain, he tells him that after his death, there is still one
Guardian remaining. The Necromancer summons the undead to attack Kain but
Kain destroys them and proceeds to Mortanius himself. Kain attacks Mortanius
and is about to deliver the killing stroke when Mortanius suddenly mutates
into a huge black demon. This 'Dark Entity' is the Unspoken Ariel warned Kain
about.
The Unspoken taunts Kain about only being a pawn and reveals that he killed
Ariel. It claims this has all been a play of his in which Kain is the tragic
hero. In defiance, Kain raises his sword and yells 'Vae Victus!'
Kain quickly picks up Anarcrothe's Scales and Mortanius' Death Orb as the
Unspoken dives into the ground and comes up quickly to attack Kain with its
own body. Kain only just manages to dodge and vanquish the demon.
With the dissolution of Anarcrothe's Scales and Mortanius' Death Orb into
their respective Pillars, now all the Pillars have been restored; except one.
The Pillar of Balance.
Kain realizes that he is the Guardian of Balance. He has two choices. Kill
himself and restore the Pillar of Balance but ensure the extinction of the
vampire race or not kill himself preserving the vampire race but condemning
Nosgoth to an eternity of decay. Nosgoth will be healed or damned at his sole
decision.
Unwilling to see the extinction of vampires and alienated from his former
humanity, Kain decides to preserve his life and rule Nosgoth in its
corruption. The Pillars collapse and Nosgoth is damned to an eternity of
decay. Kain sits on a throne in front of the Pillars drinking a goblet of
blood. Kain realizes that Vorador was right, that vampires are Gods with the
duty of ruling the humans.
#################
ii) Conclusions
#################
1. The Pillar Guardians Nupraptor, Malek, Bane, Dejoule, Azimuth, Moebius,
Anarcrothe and Mortanius are all dead. Kain is the last remaining corrupted
Guardian.
2. The Soul Reaver is in the possession of Kain.
3. The Pillars of Nosgoth and Nosgoth are unrestored due to Kain's decision
to not sacrifice himself and instead rule Nosgoth in its damnation.
4. Kain is the last vampire in Nosgoth due to Moebius' Genocidal crusade
against vampires.
#################
iii) Observations
#################
1. It's interesting to see Kain gradually accept being a vampire. Initially,
he considers vampirism a curse and seeks a cure. During the game, he makes
remarks such as 'Life without blood, what a travesty!' By the end of the
game, he has fully accepted becoming a vampire and considers himself a dark
god (unless, of course, you chose the other ending).
2. Moebius claims that Malek has allowed no member of the Circle of Nine to
fall since the Vorador incident. What about Ariel and Nupraptor (who was
killed just a few days ago)? Getting forgetful in your old age, Moebius?
3. In the new timeline, if Kain never needs Ottmar's help to defeat the
Legions of the Nemesis that means that Kain never had a reason to kill
Elzevir and return Ottmar's daughter's soul. It is presumed the Princess'
soul is still imprisoned in the doll.
4. Moebius summons warriors from the past, present and future to attack Kain.
His future warrior is apparently a future version of Kain. Why would a future
version of Kain attack his past self? Several LOK fans have come to the
conclusion that he was merely a conjuration of Moebius' (Notice that he looks
nothing like the Kain in the SR series plus the fact he welds axes rather
than the Soul Reaver). Kain's intended death in SR2 (i.e. on the same
timeline as BO) proves that this doppelganger was not Kain.
5. There are various prestige rankings that the player gains depending on how
many slayings he performs, meals he consumes, mutilations he performs and
secrets gained out of the hundred in the game. The prestige rankings in
ascending order are: - Whelp, Gimp, Princess, Bride, Prince, Bloodhunter,
Count, Baron, Overlord, Saint and Devourer of Worlds. (The BO team claim that
they came up with these late at night)
6. Have a look at the effects that a Guardian's power has on him/her.
Nupraptor's brain is bulging out of his head, Dejoule has become a luminous
being of energy and Anarcrothe's face has been chemically scarred. (Defiance
shows that Mortanius' skeletal features were merely a part of a costume).
7. It's impossible to cheat fate and have Kain kill his assassins before they
kill him. They all keep reappearing infinitely. Kain can't escape either as
some inconsiderate person has carelessly left their food carts at the exits
of Ziegsturhl, barring Kain's exit.
8. Exactly what happened to Ariel's feet? Did Mortanius or the Unspoken have
some kind of feet fetish and decide to cut them off? 'ovejaelectrica' points
out that we never see her feet when she is human. Still it would be rather
difficult for her to walk on stumped legs. It can't be because spirits don't
have legs, seeing as Moebius still has them in Defiance. Oddly, in Defiance,
Ariel's purified form still doesn't have legs (Or her original red clothing),
even though her face is healed...
9. Even though Nupraptor sewed his mouth and eyes shut, he can still see and
talk to people via his psychic powers. Rather pointless doing it in the first
place, then.
10. I'm not sure how Moebius expected any business as the Oracle by situating
himself deep in those caves. The frozen people within the caves are
presumably those wished to seek the wisdom of the Oracle but never made it.
(Or perhaps those who didn't survive the journey out)
11. I wonder whether Malek intentionally built his Bastion upon that snowy
mountain so that (what he thought was) his empty body would be preserved.
12. 'ovejaelectrica' points out that while Malek's body was reduced to a
skeleton in the intro movie, his body is intact in the bastion. Perhaps Malek
was becoming delusional from 500 years of imprisonment in his armour? Several
LOK fans have noticed that there is a skeleton in the hell area of Avernus
that is more likely to be Malek's remains than the frozen corpse in the
Bastion. (Although I do wonder about the likelihood of Mortanius actually
keeping the skeleton there for 500 years.)
13. There are various spells, forms, items, weapons and armours in this game.
However, since many of them are not plot related, they have not been included
in the plot summary.
14. In this game, Kain obtains Janos Audron's Heart of Darkness. Since, it is
not plot related and Kain can gain up to 99 of them, I have decided ignored
it in the plot summary. Update: Crystal Dynamics have said these were only
relics of the actual heart.
15. At the end of the game, the player can actually choose whether Kain
accepts or refuses the sacrifice. If the player accepts the sacrifice, the
game results in an ending in which Nosgoth is restored and Ariel comments on
how Kain was unknown in both life and death yet he saved the world. However,
the sequels have made this ending obsolete so it is not included in the plot
summary.
16. I wonder how long Kain was in the Underworld for. In that time, his
family was contacted and his body moved to his own Mausoleum and put in a
coffin. 'Sol Ace 1' points out that the game timer tells us that it is 4
days.
17. There are different types of blood in this game. Red blood fills Kain's
blood vial, green blood poisons Kain, black blood harms Kain and blue blood
fills Kain's magic levels. The green, black and blue blood don't appear in
BO2 and Defiance.
18. It's never actually said why Kain had travelled so far from his hometown
but it's not a bad guess to assume that it was to escape the plague.
19. 'Daniel J. Smith' points out that Manus Celer Dei is pronounced
incorrectly. Rather than 'Man-noose sell-er Die' it should be pronounced
'Man-noose Kel-ah Day-ee'
20. The Blood Script is based on the Furthark runes. This explains why you
may find what appears to be Blood Script in non-LOK sources. There are only
22 letters, K is the same as C and Q, U and X are non-existent.
21. Many of the game's characters had different names originally. Check out
this link to see what they were. <www.thelostworlds.net/BO1-Early_Names.HTML>
22. Azimuth is the only one of the Guardians who we do not see in an FMV.
Hence, she is the only Guardian who we do not know what truly looks like (its
hard to determine from the 32 bit sprite). 'Ardeth Silvereni' (of the Dark
Chronicle site no less) sent me a scan of a magazine, which showed a CG
render of Azimuth. Makes me wonder whether Azimuth actually did have a FMV
sequence originally.
23. At the end of the credits 'Coffee Guy!' is yelled out. According to Chris
Bruno, Denis Dyack apparently screamed this out every time he spotted the
catering truck in the parking lot.
24. Silicon Knights have said that the scenes with Moebius inciting the crowd
against vampires is meant to resemble Adolf Hitler's Nuremburg Rallies. The
way this is done is through Moebius' speech resembling aspects of Hitler's
speeches and the three red banners behind Moebius (which in Moebius' first
speech have an eagle on).
25. After returning the doll to Ottmar, the player can no longer use Bat Form
hence you cannot flee from the Battle of the Last Stand nor can you fully
explore the Nosgoth of the past or the new Nosgoth. Also, for some reason,
the map seems places Kain's location at Willendorf for the remainder of the
game.
26. The mob Moebius sends after Kain is considerably smaller in game than in
the FMV.
27. For some strange reason, the Big Horn Brothel in Steinchencroe has a room
full of blood on the floor and walls, and people chained to the walls. I'll
leave this to your imagination...
28. No matter how many humans you kill in a city, every remaining human will
keep continue about their business nonchalantly.
29. Vorador has a dragon-snake tattoo on his arm in this game that you cannot
see in any of the other games (as he wears long sleeves in those games).
30. In Dark Eden, Malek threatens to 'hack (Vorador) from crotch to gizzard'.
However, the gizzard is the stomach so hacking someone from crotch to gizzard
isn't actually as impressive as Malek made it sound.
31. You can actually go into the Nemesis' Stronghold before Kain goes back in
time. But there are a lot of locked doors and you can't explore it very much.
32. As pointed out to me by 'Rood Inverse', William has an awfully deep voice
for a 'boy king' as he is called in SR2.
33. Moebius' Hourglass is the only one of the binding items that Kain does
not comment on placing before a Pillar.
34. BO appears to take place during the summer as sunlight lasts from 06:00
to 22:00 and night lasts from 22:00 to 06:00.
35. I was not at all surprised by Mortanius defeating Anarcrothe after seeing
the Alchemist seemingly thinking that green jelly was an effective weapon
against Mortanius. (As a corollary, Mortanius seemed to go overkill on
Anarcrothe. Even after Mortanius' lightning had pierced Anarcrothe, he
proceeded to slam him against one of the Pillars then snap his spine))
36. The post-decision Nosgoth looks considerably worse in the ending FMV than
it does in future games.
37. In William's stronghold, in a room prior to the room where Kain battles
him; William appears to have a map of Nosgoth on the floor (plans for world
domination?) with several knives placed at specific points in Nosgoth (The
Pillars, Stahlberg, Willendorf and Elzevir's mansion).
38. In this game, Moebius' vampire hunters appear to be mainly civilians
equipped with crude weapons such as pitch forks and torches. However in SR2
and Defiance, they appear to be an organised army with uniforms and armed
with swords and pikes.
39. Whether or not you enter a Spirit Forge as Kain or as a being possessed
by Kain, the wraiths refer to you as 'vampire'.
40. Moebius tells Kain, 'I have seen the future, Kain. You are not in it!'
This is obviously contradicted by the sequels. Was Moebius a bad time
streamer or was this just taunting by Moebius? (Or perhaps this is an
indication from Silicon Knights that the ending where Kain sacrifices himself
was their intended true ending?)
41. The scene where Kain is killed by his assassins was originally an FMV.
(Screenshots of it can be found on The Lost Worlds site and the Defiance
Bonus Materials) Kain was also originally blonde as a human. The scene was
apparently cut out since it wasn't working well.
42. This is the only one of the LOK games with constantly passing time (i.e.
having regular day and night cycles). In the other games, the progression of
time is either scripted or none existent.
43. Despite draining them of their blood, the corpses of Kain's victims still
manage to somehow produce a pool of blood on the ground.
44. Perhaps it may be due to the dilapidation of Coorhagen, but we never
really do see which of the houses in the plague stricken city belongs to
Kain.
45. In Coorhagen, there is a building with the image of the Iron Sword on its
floor. Presumably, this is the shop of the Serioli, the people who made the
Iron Sword.
46. Oddly, there appears to be a shotgun (!) in Moebius' museum. Has Moebius
visited our universe?
47. Kain notes that Dark Eden is larger on the inside than on the outside but
fails to notice that that's also the case for the majority of the buildings
in the game!
48. The ruined houses in Dark Eden make me curious as to what villages or
cities were there prior to the Guardians' meddling.
49. Despite being unable to go to Bat Form indoors during the normal course
of the game, Kain manages to do so after collecting Malek's helmet within
Dark Eden! The FMV clearly shows that room has a roof.
50. There is a building in Avernus with the sign 'McCulloch's Tavern'. This
is most likely a reference to Kenneth McCulloch, a Silicon Knights employee
who was an artist, designer and writer on this game.
51. Despite Kain claiming the Iron Armour resists fire, he is still damaged
by standing within fire whilst wearing it.
52. In a nice attention to detail, the traps in William's Stronghold are
switched off in the new Nosgoth era (seeing as there would be no use for them
50 years on)
53. In the new Nosgoth, William's statue has been destroyed. I have to
presume this was due to natural causes since it's unlikely the people would
destroy the statue of their beloved king.
54. The final two Pillars are restored in the wrong order. When Kain picks up
Anarcrothe's scales; the Death Pillar is restored and when Kain picks up
Mortanius' Death Orb; the States Pillar is restored!
#######################################################
4. LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER [1999]
#######################################################
Platforms: Sony Playstation, Sega Dreamcast, PC
First Released: 16th August 1999 (US)
Classification: T (US), 15+ (UK)
Published by: Eidos
Developed by: Crystal Dynamics
Directed by: Amy Hennig
Produced by: Amy Hennig, Rosaura Sandoval and Andrew Bennett
Music by: Kurt Harland of the Information Society
Written by: Amy Hennig and Seth Carus
-------------------------------------------------------
'They said the dead know no pain.... Things are about
to change!
Cast down to the material world, the mysterious entity
Raziel seeks vengeance for betrayal by his master Kain.
He must slay his undead brethren; only then can he
absorb their souls for the energy he craves. Moving
between spectral and material plane, Raziel must
negotiate puzzles, overcome traps and defy
blood-chilling enemies to reach his goal - the final
battle with Kain!'
-------------------------------------------------------
For the second Legacy of Kain game, the series was fully handed over to
Crystal Dynamics, after a legal battle that I'm not going to discuss here,
and the 'Legacy of Kain' part was shifted to the front of this title.
A short notice appears after loading up the game that lets gamers know that
while 'Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain' was developed by Silicon Knights, 'Legacy
of Kain: Soul Reaver' (and ergo the rest of the series) was developed by
Crystal Dynamics.
While we do not play as Kain in this title, he makes several appearances in
this game. In this game, we play as one of Kain's ex-lieutenants, Raziel,
executed by an apparently jealous Kain because he evolved before he did.
Raziel is resurrected by a mysterious benefactor and he begins a quest for
revenge upon Kain and his brethren.
The game starts with a beautifully rendered FMV by GlyphX. The main game is a
3D action/adventure game with beautiful architecture, which morphs as our
main character Raziel shifts between Spectral and Material realms.
############
i) The Plot
############
At least a thousand years after choosing to condemn the world by not
sacrificing himself and restoring the Balance Pillar, Kain had become a god-
like being; head of a self created empire, with the Pillars of Nosgoth as the
base of his empire and the Balance Pillar as his throne. Kain raised six
vampires as his lieutenants: Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon and
Melchiah.
As time passed, Kain and his lieutenants would evolve; becoming less human
with each change. It was custom that Kain would evolve first then his
lieutenants would follow in turn several years after. Until one day, Kain's
firstborn lieutenant, Raziel, evolved before Kain, growing a pair of wings.
Presenting them to Kain and his brethren within the Sanctuary of the Clans,
Raziel, having served Kain loyally for a thousand years, did not expect
Kain's next move.
Kain, apparently jealous, ripped them apart and promptly ordered for Raziel's
execution within the Abyss of the Lake of the Dead, execution ground for the
treacherous and those deemed too weak to serve Kain. Following Kain's orders,
Turel and Dumah unquestioning threw him in.
Raziel spent centuries of seemingly eternal burning agony and hatred towards
Kain and his brethren in the Abyss until his descent ended at the bottom.
Now, Raziel awakens in the Spectral Realm, the world of the dead. He finds
his body to be burnt severely and his lower jaw missing. He wraps his cloak
around his disfigured face. Suddenly a voice calls to him. Raziel turns in
surprise.
The voice is that of a mysterious being named the Elder God; it explains to
Raziel how it has saved him from complete destruction. He goes on to explain
how vampires disrupt the flow of life by preventing the souls of the dead
being spun in the Wheel of Fate and completing their destinies. The Elder God
sends Raziel to destroy Kain and his brethren for Raziel's own vengeance and
to allow the Wheel of Fate to continue.
Raziel discovers that he has lost his blood thirst and now requires a greater
source of sustenance - souls. Raziel has become a reaver of souls. While
finding a way back to the Material Realm, the world of the living, Raziel
discovers that while his wings were ripped apart by Kain and burned in the
Abyss, they still have some use. By opening them up, he can use them to glide
across chasms that he would not be able to cross otherwise.
Raziel catches sight of two strange green beings, nothing like he's seen
before. The Elder God explains to him that these beings are Sluagh,
scavengers who hunt for the lost souls of the Spectral Realm. Souls that have
been devoured by the Sluagh are lost forever, never making it to the Wheel of
Fate. Battling them, Raziel devours them to sate his new hunger and discovers
whilst they are brazen in groups, if weakened and alone, they will flee from
him.
Eventually, Raziel finds a shift portal, a ring of blue circles that allows
him to gather matter to form a body for him to use in order to survive in the
Material Realm. However the process is laborious and requires Raziel to be at
full strength to perform.
Raziel uses the shift portal and returns to the Material Realm. The Elder God
explains to him that his Material Realm body slowly dissolves away and if he
does not consume souls or takes too much damage, it will be destroyed and he
will be forced back to the Spectral Realm. He also tells Raziel that he can
willingly abandon his physical body and return to Spectral Realm at any time
without any cost.
Encountering water, the Elder God explains to Raziel that he is still
vulnerable to water like he was as a vampire. In the Spectral Realm however,
water is virtually non-existent and as thin as air. Avoiding the pool of
water, Raziel proceeds to the next room and finds a pair of beastly creatures
using their tongues like straws to suck blood out of a dead human corpse.
Raziel is shocked when the Elder God tells him that these degenerate
creatures are the vampire children of his brother Dumah.
Knowing the weaknesses of vampires firsthand, Raziel uses a nearby pool of
water, a spike on a wall and a slit of light from the ceiling to kill these
abominations and release their souls. Raziel devours them before they slip
into the Spectral Realm. Raziel then pushes a block with his vampire strength
to reach a ledge. The Elder God informs him that in the Spectral Realm; these
blocks, along with all physical objects, are frozen and are immovable.
Raziel opens a door to a sight that he had not expected. He sees the
Sanctuary of the Clans now in ruins. At the time of his execution it stood
tall and magnificent; now it is collapsing and ruined. Apparently, several
centuries have passed between the time that Raziel was thrown into the Abyss
and when he returned to the Material Realm. Raziel's thoughts are abruptly
interrupted by an earthquake. The Elder God explains that ever since Kain
refused to sacrifice himself to restore Nosgoth, it has ever since been
collapsing into ruin. Nosgoth approaches the precipice of destruction. Raziel
tries to enter the Sanctuary but the doors will not open, apparently rusted
shut or barred from the inside.
Raziel eventually returns to his execution site. Despite the rest of
Nosgoth's collapse, the Abyss is still continues to whirl. Now at a
significant landmark, Raziel manages to locate himself in Nosgoth and sets
out to his clan territory to the west in order to see how his clan of
vampires, the Razielim, have changed in the centuries that he has been
absent.
Exploring Nosgoth, Raziel discovers he is immortal. If his body is destroyed
in the Material Realm, he will simply slip into the Spectral Realm able to
recover his strength there and return to the Material Realm whenever he finds
a planar portal. And if he loses his strength in the Spectral Realm, his soul
will be sent back to the Elder God's chamber to recover. The Elder God tells
Raziel that he is now beyond death.
Returning to his clan territory, Raziel is 'greeted' by complete silence and
emptiness. His clan is nowhere to be seen. Raziel knows what has happened to
them and the party responsible.
In further exploration, Raziel encounters two zombie-like creatures killing a
human and feasting savagely upon his corpse. Even though he does not
recognize them, he does recognize a vampiric scent upon them. Upon his
arrival at the clan territory of his brother Melchiah, the Necropolis, he
realizes that these rotting corpses are the Melchahim.
Melchiah was the last to be raised by Kain and was given the weakest portion
of Kain's soul. Melchiah therefore was the weakest of the brothers, his skin
was continuously rotting. This trait was apparently passed to his children
who resort to raid graves and use the bodies within to sustain themselves.
Whilst exploring the Necropolis, Raziel shifts back into the Spectral Realm
and encounters a vampire wraith. As the Elder God explains, this is the soul
of a vampire that has been in the Spectral Realm for too long. The vampire
wraith has adapted its vampiric qualities to devour souls. If it attacks
Raziel, it will sap Raziel of his energy unless Raziel gets out of its range
or attacks it.
Deep within the Necropolis, Raziel arrives in a room containing a large cage
with a meat grinder hovering above it. Raziel encounters a demonic beast in
the room and is shocked when it reveals itself to be the youngest of his
brethren, Melchiah. Melchiah tells Raziel that he should have stayed where
Kain sent him as Nosgoth as become less pleasant than he remembers. Raziel
demands to know what has happened to his clan but Melchiah ignores his
question. He tells Raziel of his revulsion for his current form and how Kain
was unwilling to risk his empire on Raziel's premature evolution. As Melchiah
advances upon Raziel, he tells him that he is 'the last to die'.
Raziel's claws are ineffective against the 'evolved' Melchiah who laughs at
Raziel's futile attacks. Raziel notices a side room, its door blocked by
spiked bar. Raziel jumps in through the window and raises the bars via a
lever. As Melchiah enters the room, Raziel releases the lever and the bars
drop on him. The spiked bars visibly harm Melchiah; however this is not
enough to stop him as he shakes the bars off himself. Raziel notices another
side room and tries it again but once again Melchiah scatters them. Just at
that moment, the switch for the meat grinder activates. Raziel jumps into the
centre cage and lures Melchiah in. But instead of climbing into the cage,
Melchiah turns transparent and walks through the bars! Raziel quickly jumps
out the cage, as Melchiah turns solid once again.
Raziel demands to know where Kain is but Melchiah only states that Kain shows
himself when he wants not when commanded. Raziel then turns on the grinder
and it crushes Melchiah to death. Raziel consumes his soul and the energy
raises Raziel into the air before knocking him back down onto his knees.
Raziel considers himself reduced to a fratricide but the Elder God corrects
him. Consuming Melchiah's soul has allowed Raziel to phase through gates and
barred doors in the Spectral Realm like Melchiah did. In this respect, Raziel
has not been reduced. Raziel uses his new ability to escape the room and
leave the Necropolis.
Outside, the Elder God tells Raziel that Kain is at the Sanctuary of the
Clans. Arriving at the Sanctuary, the main doors are still shut but at the
side is a barred gate. Raziel phases through it and makes his way to the
chamber containing the Pillars of Nosgoth. The door suddenly locks behind
him.
Standing before the Pillars is his former master, Kain. Kain, strangely
unsurprised by Raziel's return, comments on Raziel's appearance. Raziel
demands to know what has happened to his clan. Kain replies that he can
destroy whatever he creates. Raziel is furious, stating that Kain's
extermination of his clan was without conscience but Kain responds that
Raziel has no right to question his judgment, as Raziel's lifespan is minor
compared to the life full of regret and doubt that Kain has suffered. Kain
doubts that Raziel would have any idea what to do if he had to make a choice
that would affect the whole world.
With the clans scattered throughout Nosgoth, Kain's empire is not what it
once was and is coming to an end. It has no further use for Kain just like
Raziel. He punctuates this statement by drawing the Soul Reaver. Raziel knows
that the Soul Reaver thrives by consuming the souls of its victims and that
he is not likely to come out of this fight alive.
Nonetheless, the vengeful Raziel battles his former master. Kain builds up a
lightning attack against Raziel, but Raziel manages to attack Kain and
interrupt the process. But Raziel's claws do little but annoy Kain. Weary of
the battle, Kain catches Raziel off guard and hits him with a quick burst of
lightning, sending Raziel to the ground. He then moves for the killing blow
with the Soul Reaver.
However, instead out tearing Raziel apart and consuming his soul as the Soul
Reaver did with all its victims, the once believed indestructible blade
shatters apart on contact with Raziel producing a shockwave that rocks the
Sanctuary. However, Kain does not seem to be surprised by this and there even
appears to a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. He merely claims this event
marks another step towards his and Raziel's destinies before teleporting
away.
With his material body severely damaged by Kain's lighting and the Soul
Reaver, Raziel slips into the Spectral Realm. Before his eyes is the spirit
of the Soul Reaver. Raziel realizes that, the next time he battles Kain, he
will be able to defeat him with the Soul Reaver.
Placing his arm within the wraith blade and it wraps around his arm as a band
of green energy. Raziel and the Soul Reaver are now forever bound together.
The Elder God tells Raziel that the blade has now been freed from its prison
and restored to its true form, a Wraith Blade. As it is no longer a physical
blade, the Soul Reaver will only appear in the Material Realm if Raziel's
strength is fully restored, in which case it will maintain Raziel's strength.
In the Spectral Realm, the blade will always be present.
Behind Raziel calls a female voice. It is the spirit of Ariel. She asks
whether Raziel is another of Kain's creatures sent to taunt her. Raziel
apologizes for disturbing her rest but Ariel comments that she lacks the
physical body required to rest. All she can do is watch as Nosgoth descends
into corruption.
Kain's refusal to sacrifice himself and restore the Pillars has bound Ariel
to the Pillars eternally. Until his death will free her. Raziel and Ariel now
ally together and Ariel offers to help Raziel whenever he returns to the
Pillars. Raziel uses the Soul Reaver to unlock the sealed door blocking his
exit.
Leaving the Sanctuary, Raziel returns to the Material Realm. As he does so he
notices the Soul Reaver turn blue. This is apparently its colour in this
realm. The Elder God then informs him that his brother, Zephon lies in the
Silenced Cathedral to the east.
Arriving at the entrance of the Cathedral, Raziel finds the doors sealed.
However, the symbol of the Soul Reaver is engraved on the doors. Raziel
inserts the Soul Reaver into a slot and the doors open. The portcullis is
still down but Raziel phases through it. Inside Raziel finds the remains of
human houses but with no humans in sight. Instead, everywhere there are
insect-like creatures cocooning humans and scaling the walls. Raziel comes to
realize that these must be the Zephonim.
The Silenced Cathedral was built by humans to oppose Kain's rule. They had
planned to use the cathedral's pipes to blast a tune deadly to vampires but
they were killed by the Zephonim before they could do so. Raziel activates
several fans to produce strong air currents which allow him to use his wings
to glide his way up and ascend the cathedral.
Finally making it to Zephon's throne room, Raziel meets the second weakest of
Kain's sons. Zephon has evolved into an insect just like his children but
gigantic in comparison. Raziel muses how his appearance reflects his soul.
Zephon tells Raziel that, in his absence, he has missed much change in
Nosgoth. He points out the irony of the human's great weapon becoming his
home. Ominously, he warns Raziel that his hunger matches his enormous size.
The giant insect attacks Raziel with his legs. Raziel dodges them and as they
become stuck in the ground, Raziel uses slices them apart with the Wraith
Blade. The pain causes an egg to burst out of Zephon, which Raziel picks up.
Seeing a dead human nearby holding a torch, Raziel uses it to ignite the egg
and then he throws it at Zephon. After being hit by several inflamed eggs and
losing his legs, Zephon burns to death. Raziel then consumes his soul and
becomes able to climb walls. However he cannot do so in the Spectral Realm as
they are insubstantial in that realm.
With his new ability, Raziel returns to the Sanctuary of the Clans and scales
a wall to an upper room, previously inaccessible to him. Up there, he finds a
way outside and where he encounters the Tomb of the Sarafan. Once it would've
been impossible to get inside but with Nosgoth's decay all barriers have been
destroyed.
Raziel recounts his knowledge of the Sarafan. He knows that the Sarafan once
were a group of warrior-priests who planned to wipe out the vampire race and
almost succeeded. Now they lay dead here enshrined. As Raziel enters the
tomb, the Elder God warns him that a forgotten history lies within.
Raziel enters the tomb and is shocked to find what lies within. The coffins
bear the names of his brothers and himself. With the coffins all empty, he
realizes that Kain had blasphemously raided these coffins and turned the
Sarafan priests into vampires.
Deeper within the tomb, Raziel meets a Turelim vampire assigned to guard the
tomb. Raziel is unmoved by his death threats since Kain has already killed
him. Raziel dodges his telekinetic blasts and easily defeats the tomb
guardian. Obtaining a relic from the tomb guardian, Raziel now gains the
ability to throw telekinetic projectiles of energy; also the Soul Reaver
gains this ability, as it is his symbiotic weapon.
Raziel proceeds on and eventually arrives at the Drowned Abbey. Humans used
had the Abbey as a Sanctuary but in the collapse of Nosgoth it flooded and
they were forced to retreat. Rahab and his children were very easily harmed
by sunlight so they went and hid deep within in the Drowned Abbey to escape
the sunlight. Soon they adapted and overcame their vulnerability to water.
Inside the Drowned Abbey, Raziel encounters the Rahabim who swim in the water
and are capable of leaping out at him. They also appear to be capable of
firing telekinetic blasts at Raziel. Raziel, himself still vulnerable to
water, has much trouble fighting them.
Within a tower of the Drowned Abbey, Raziel meets his now amphibian looking
brother, Rahab. Rahab reveals that Kain has told him that Raziel would come
and kill him. Raziel tells Rahab that they were once Sarafan but this does
not seem to bother him. He claims that Kain saved them.
The room is flooded with water and only has several pillars in the water for
Raziel to stand on making combat a near impossibility. Raziel's telekinetic
projectiles are ineffective against Rahab but then Raziel remembers his
brother's weakness. He proceeds to shoot telekinetic projectiles at all the
windows. The sunlight comes rushing in and the amphibian vampire is burned to
death. Raziel consumes his soul and now no longer has to fear water. He has
gained immunity and can now swim.
Swimming outside of Rahab's room, the Elder God then tells Raziel that Dumah
lies in the frozen wasteland to the north of Nosgoth. Raziel returns to the
Lake of the Dead and advances north to a snowy wasteland. He finds Dumah's
clan territory, now a ruined city. Inside, Raziel finds the dead bodies of
Dumahim everywhere and assumes Dumah suffered a similar fate to his. But the
Elder God corrects him and tells him that the complacent and arrogant Dumah
did not see an attack coming from human vampire hunters. Following this
attack, the Dumahim were scattered throughout Nosgoth. Inside the Ruined
City, Raziel finds a huge furnace creating a huge wave of fire concentrated
in the centre of the room.
Arriving in Dumah's throne room, Raziel finds him dead and impaled. Dumah is
a larger version of his children. Once a great warrior, Dumah would be
greater ashamed for Raziel to find him like this. Raziel removes the spears
from Dumah's body and Dumah's soul reinhabits his body. Dumah thanks his
brother for freeing him but Raziel rejects his gratitude, remembering that it
was who Dumah threw him into the Abyss along with Turel. Dumah now claims to
be the strongest vampire even more so than Kain.
Raziel fights the second eldest of his brothers and Dumah's claim to be the
strongest vampire seems to be true, as Raziel seems unable to harm him.
Raziel's claws, the spears that Dumah was impaled with and even the Soul
Reaver do not harm him. Dumah strikes the ground and causes an earthquake,
which paralyses Raziel. He quickly proceeds to run around Raziel creating a
band of energy constricting Raziel. Fortunately, Raziel recovers in time and
runs. Raziel lures Dumah to the giant furnace that he saw earlier. Raziel
switches on the gas, lures Dumah into the centre and then switches on the
fire. The massive wave of fire is enough to kill the vampire. Raziel consumes
his soul and gains Dumah's ability to form a band of constricting energy to
paralyse his enemies and move otherwise immovable objects.
Raziel leaves the Ruined City and heads to the north where he finds a large
sundial, a secret switch to open a pair of nearby doors. It is stuck but
Raziel uses his new constrict ability to turn the sundial. Raziel enters what
appears to be a network of caves. Inside Raziel finds a cauldron and realizes
that these are the Oracle Caves, where Moebius the Timestreamer and Kain
first met all those years ago.
Moebius had assumed the guise of the eccentric Oracle of Nosgoth but it had
been a facade for the Timestreamer's true cold and manipulative nature. It
was rumoured that the caves, just like Moebius, were also a facade for a
larger complex. Raziel proves the rumour by constricting the cauldron to
reveal a secret passageway into Moebius' Chronoplast chambers. Raziel senses
Kain's presence and becomes more determined to find and kill him.
Inside, Raziel finds a statue of Moebius. It is not the image that Raziel had
of Moebius, from Kain's stories, but Raziel does sense a cold feeling of
power from the statue.
Deep within the Chronoplast, Raziel encounters portals projecting images from
the past and future. The first shows Raziel's first meeting with the Elder
God. The second shows when Kain broke the Soul Reaver on Raziel. The third
shows Raziel finding the Tomb of the Sarafan. These images torment Raziel,
who refuses to believe that everything he has done has all been foretold and
assumes it must be a deception by Kain.
The fourth portal reveals a glimpse into the future; Raziel is confronting
Kain within a dark room. Raziel is shocked to watch the fifth portal, which
shows him striking Ariel with the Soul Reaver, which turns it yellow. The
sixth and final portal shows Raziel standing upon a window on a tall building
with a red and black coloured Wraith Blade.
Finally arriving at the end of the hall, Raziel opens the doors and is
greeted by Kain who announces his disappointment at Raziel's slow progress.
He asks Raziel whether he was troubled murdering his brothers to which Raziel
asks whether Kain was troubled ordering Raziel's execution. Kain replies that
he always knew that Raziel would go after him in vengeance. Raziel refuses to
believe that Kain has foreseen all of this.
Kain discovered these chambers centuries ago and the knowledge within was
more than he could have understood as a human. He feels that he is now much
more than he was as a human and feels that the vampires are gods. Even if
only one of them exists, they are still superior to everything other being in
Nosgoth and that was the reason why he could order Raziel's execution without
a troubled conscience.
Kain believes that everyone's future is predestined. Everyone merely plays
out the path that fate that written for them. Fatalistically, Kain announces
that free will is an illusion.
Raziel interrupts Kain's speech by revealing that he has discovered how Kain
raided the Tomb of the Sarafan and turned the Sarafan priests into vampires.
Raziel questions Kain's blasphemous act. Kain considers vampires and Sarafan
to be the same. Both are obsessed with Nosgoth's domination. He believes that
no one was better to be his lieutenants. So ingrained with their cause, they
felt they were beyond good and evil.
Raziel does not agree with Kain, he believes that the Sarafan were merely
saving Nosgoth from the vampire curse. Kain however says that the Sarafan
were nothing like the altruistic, noble figures Raziel believes they are.
Raziel begins to wonder about the game Kain is playing, telling all these
apparitions and omens. Kain merely explains that destiny is a game and then
teleports to another section of the room.
As before, Kain begins charging up his lighting attack; Raziel rushes him
with the Soul Reaver before Kain can harm him. Kain is hurt but teleports
away and activates a switch on the wall. Raziel repeatedly injures Kain who
tries to activate several switches in the Chronoplast room.
Finally, pulling the last switch, Kain has activated a time portal at the top
of the room. The visibly injured Kain comments that Raziel almost defeated
him but fate has promised that this is not when it ends. He then escapes into
the portal; Raziel prepares to follow but is stopped by the voice of the
Elder God who warns him that he will be no longer able to help Raziel once he
steps through the portal.
Unmoved, Raziel enters and arrives in a dark room. Kain is nowhere to be
seen. Moebius appears behind Raziel and greets him. He tells Raziel,
'WHERE TIME IS BUT A LOOP,
A LOOSE STITCH
IN THE UNIVERSAL CLOTH
A STREAMER MIGHT SEIZE
UPON A CHANCE, A FATAL SLIP -
AND PLUNGE THE FATE
OF PLANETS INTO CHAOS..'
TO BE CONTINUED..
###############
ii) Conclusions
###############
1. Kain managed to completely conquer Nosgoth in the time between Blood Omen
and this game.
2. Kain's lieutenants Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab and Dumah are all dead.
3. However, one of his lieutenants, Turel, is still alive.
4. The Soul Reaver has been shattered and the soul devouring entity within
released. This entity has bound itself to Raziel's arm as a Wraith Blade.
5. Due to Kain remaining alive, the Pillars and hence Nosgoth are unrestored.
#################
iii) Observations
#################
1. Kain is wearing Vorador's ring on his ear.
2. Kain has a scar on his stomach presumably from being impaled in BO.
'ovejaelectrica' points out that the scar is too big and in the wrong place.
I assume this was just a goof by Crystal Dynamics. It was however corrected
in Defiance.
3. Melchiah, the weakest of the brothers is a demonic beast vaguely human. As
we progress through the brothers their appearances become more and more
humanoid. Kain himself has not changed at all. There is an image of Turel in
the (US) instruction book and the ending credits, which show he is humanoid
like Dumah. Although Amy Hennig has said that particular image 'doesn't mean
much anymore; it was drawn so long ago, that it's not really relevant
anymore.'
Update: In Defiance, Turel does not follow the trend but there may be a
reason for this as Raziel himself acknowledges Turel's vast difference from
the rest of the brethren. 'Peter Christensen' theorises that Turel was alive
long after the rest of his brethren were killed and so evolved further into
the creature we see in Defiance. Makes me wonder what Melchiah would've
looked like by then.
4. Zephon is the only of the brothers who we don't see use the ability gained
from him. It's probably because he's too big to be crawling around the
Silenced Cathedral without at least banging his head on something.
5. There also 6 Glyphs (Force, Stone, Sound, Water, Fire and Sunlight) and a
Fire Reaver that Raziel gains in this game. Since they are not plot related
they are not included in the plot summary.
6. The Stone Glyph puzzle is located near Nupraptor's Retreat. During
Nosgoth's collapse, it apparently fell of the waterfall (which has dried up
by the way).
7. The Abyss is located in the Lake of the Dead. If you go to the Lake of the
Dead in BO, the only thing there is a teleporter leading to the Lost City.
Amy Hennig has said there is a connection but never elaborated more upon
this.
8. If you notice, Kain never actually explicitly says that he destroyed
Raziel's clan. It's possible that Raziel's clan are still alive and are
hiding somewhere, have been imprisoned, have been banished far away, died out
independently or some other possibility. However, Melchiah's line 'You are
the last to die!' implies that Raziel is the last of the Razielim.
9. Even though his lower jaw was burnt off, it still looks like Raziel has a
chin (except when he opens his cowl for devouring souls).
10. Even though the rest of his body was severely damaged in the Abyss,
Raziel's hair remains intact. I want the shampoo he uses.
11. Raziel's cowl follows him between realms even though it's a physical
object. Amy Hennig said in an interview that it's not the actual cowl he had
originally but an 'organic manifestation' of it that has become part of him.
12. If you want to be cruel, you can actually make Raziel jump into the Abyss
again. However, the Elder God pulls him back into his chamber before any
serious damage is dealt to Raziel.
13. Amy Hennig has confirmed the Underworld in BO to be the same as the
Spectral Realm. This means that Mortanius could travel across both Realms.
(It's still curious though how the Underworld of BO is fiery whilst it's just
an eerie blue in this game. Perhaps the underworld in BO was just a
hallucination of Kain?)
14. The vampire Raziel has a ponytail. After his trip in the Abyss, it
disappears.
15. This and Defiance are the only games without a map of Nosgoth. Several
LOK fans (including myself) have attempted making one but the Nosgoth of SR
is too big and complex (the pathways are twisted and there is heavy fog as a
way of hiding the constant streaming of areas). If you want to try, remember
that Dumah's clan territory is to the north and Raziel's is to the west.
Also, (according to the compass in SR2) if you face the front of the Balance
Pillar, you are facing north.
UPDATE: Dark Chronicle now has a great Nosgoth of SR map by 'The Necronoir'
which includes the Smokestack (Turelim clan territory) and Kain's Mountain
Retreat.
16. The Playstation graphics make it really hard to see the Elder God is a
squid. So in SR2, I was really surprised to see that he was. (However, 'Greg
Wilford' points out that you can see tentacles moving about at the end of the
intro FMV.)
17. I don't think Kain is popular with nature conservationists. His decision
at the Pillars seems to have destroyed most, if not all, of Nosgoth's
vegetation (as a side note, how is there oxygen in Nosgoth any more?), dried
up large outside areas of water (with the exception of the Abyss and the
Drowned Abbey) and he also ordered for the skies to be belched with smoke.
18. The first time you fight Kain, he is hurt by Raziel's claws. The second
time, he just laughs if you try to attack him with Raziel's claws. Was he
just pretending to be hurt the first time round? (The same thing happens if
you use cheats and attack Kain with the Wraith Blade at the Pillars battle)
19. Malek has a place in the Tomb of the Sarafan but there is no coffin for
him for obvious reasons. (Some readers don't understand what I mean by this,
read the BO plot and observations to find out what happened to his corpse)
20. This game was originally longer but a section of the game about the size
of the Silenced Cathedral was cut out due to time constraints.
- In the original plot, after facing Kain in the Chronoplast, Raziel gained a
shift at will ability from consuming part of Kain's soul.
- He then proceeded to kill a human Priestess who worshipped Kain and gained
a possession ability from her (similar to Mind Control/Spirit Wrack in BO and
Charm in BO2).
- He killed Turel (whose clan territory was a lava filled area, containing a
smokestack, which is not Dark Eden) and gained an amplified force projectile.
- Raziel discovered that the Wraith Blade would be only truly effective
against Kain if he fused it with Ariel's soul. He did this encouraged by
Kain's taunts and Ariel's willingness and thus gained the Ariel Reaver.
- Raziel then proceeded to kill Kain in his mountain retreat then fused his
soul into the Reaver creating the Kain Reaver.
- Raziel finally opened the pipes of the Silenced Cathedral killing all of
the vampires in Nosgoth.
Raziel's slaying of Ariel, final battle with Kain and return to the Silenced
Cathedral are seen in the time portals before the 2nd battle with Kain.
Additionally Raziel also gained a Spirit Glyph and Reavers with the elemental
powers of all the glyphs. This ensured by the end of the game, Raziel was
unstoppable and more or less omnipotent.
For more information, go to blincoln's The Lost Worlds site
<www.thelostworlds.net>
21. You can see the Pinnacle of the Silenced Cathedral and the Smokestack of
Turel's clan territory in the intro FMV.
22. You can see a downgraded version of Raziel's vampire genocide. In the
Silenced Cathedral, there's a room with three pipes. You can only get in
there by phasing through the gates in the room. Climb up the wall at the
other side of the room and open the pipes. The sound will kill the Zephonim
vampires below.
23. This is for those of you who hate block puzzles. Get more enjoyment of
them by flipping them onto your enemies.
24. There is a notoriety system in this game that's rather interesting. If
you never kill a single human (even those who attack you!), all humans
(except the worshippers in the Silenced Cathedral) will bow down before you!
As long as you don't kill them, they will continue to worship Raziel.
Worshippers in the Silenced Cathedral are so loyal to Zephon that they can
never be swayed.
25. Sometimes in the outside area of the Drowned Abbey, Rahabim vampires will
jump out of the water at you but be burned alive by sunlight before they
reach you. This shows just how vulnerable to light these vampires are (Look
how cloudy the sky is).
26. In a boss battle, get killed in the Spectral Realm then return to the
boss room. The boss will now make some comment on Raziel returning.
27. In SR2, Vorador uses crows to spy on Raziel. I wonder about the
possibility of whether those crows at the Sanctuary of the Clans are the
descendants of Vorador's crows.
28. Humans are not affected by the sunlight and water glyphs.
29. The instruction booklet gives some interesting information that is not
mentioned in the game. Kain and his six lieutenants destroyed the major human
kingdoms and then 'domesticated' the humans. Nosgoth was shaped to the will
of the vampires. Kain ordered for smoke to be belched into the sky to protect
vampires from its harmful effects. When the vampires grew bored, they set the
lesser vampires against each other and bet upon the outcome for amusement.
30. Melchiah and Dumah can attack you in the Spectral Realm. Melchiah can
shift realms and you can meet Dumah in the Spectral Realm before you pull the
spears out of him.
31. If you kill a vampire by impaling him with a staff and do not devour his
soul, his soul can reinhabit his body if you pull the staff out. There are
some pre-impaled vampires in the game, that if you pull the staff out, a
vampire wraith will reinhabit the vampire corpse with its vampire wraith
abilities.
32. Exactly how deep is the Lake of the Dead? It takes Raziel *centuries* to
reach the bottom.
33. Raziel apparently learnt to swim just by consuming Rahab's soul. Don't
bother with swimming lessons! Consume the soul of the leader of a clan of
swimming vampires and you're set for life!
34. An area, not mentioned in the plot summary, is the Human Citadel. This is
apparently the last human city in Nosgoth. The humans are well protected as
it is surrounded by deep moats and high walls. In the deleted story of SR,
there was a Temple nearby of Kain worshippers led by the Priestess who had
the ability to possess other living beings. Raziel gained the Possession
ability after killing her.
35. Raziel's cowl is red prior to his trip in the Abyss. By the time he
reaches the bottom it is a brown colour. This is perhaps symbolic of Raziel's
blood thirst receding away as actual blood is initially red but turns brown
as it is exposed to air.
36. One of Raziel's idle animations is of him crouching down and drawing his
clan symbol in the ground. When he is done, he proceeds to rub it out. It has
been pointed out that this is symbolic of the Razielim's possible extinction.
(This idle animation is also in SR2 and Defiance)
37. In this game, the Balance Pillar is black whilst the other eight are in a
white or pale yellow colour. This is contradictory of what has been shown in
the BO ending, SR2 and Defiance where they are all black following their
collapse. Also, oddly they are all a yellow tone in the intro FMV.
38. I wonder why the Rahabim sound like a cork popping when they are
attacked.
39. In the Fire Glyph area, there are several circular murals of a man facing
sideways. This is apparently a mural of the Butterfly Lord: Chris
Butterfly/Bruno, Test Manager of Crystal Dynamics.
40. Not really an observation but an interesting piece of information,
nonetheless. Michael Bell (Raziel's voice actor) has said in interviews that
he has played SR but can't get past the tutorial part of the game!
41. The Elder God's chamber and the passages leading out of it cannot be
accessed in the Material Realm. The exit by the Stonehedge-esqe structure
seals off when you shift to the Material Realm and Raziel automatically
shifts to the Spectral Realm when you use the warp gate to get there. (The
shift at will cheat doesn't allow you to shift within the Elder God's chamber
either.)
42. The ledges above the Abyss are considerably further apart from each other
in the opening FMV than in the actual game.
43. This is the only LOK game where Ariel is not translucent. (No, I'm not
saying this has any plot relevance, I'm just pointing it out.)
44. There are several vampire hunters (alive and dead) deep within the
Silenced Cathedral. I applaud them all for somehow managing to get that far
into the cathedral especially the dead vampire hunter *in Zephon's chamber*!
45. Dumah appears to be the most arrogant of Raziel's brethren having placed
statues of himself within the Ruined City.
46. The seven hooded vampires on the main menu are, according to Crystal
Dynamics' Test Manager Chris Bruno, meant to represent Kain and his six
lieutenants. Note they are not actually Kain and his six lieutenants, only a
representation.
47. Never once in this game or any of the sequels is the Elder God referred
to by that name. We only know its name through the credits, instruction
manual and the SR2 Bonus Materials.
48. 'Ardeth Silvereni' has pointed out a stone carving of Nupraptor's face at
the Force Glyph altar. She theorises it is there due to some connection with
Nupraptor's telekinetic powers and the altar's close proximity to Nupraptor's
retreat.
49. Why did Kain not destroy the flags, doors, walls etc. with Raziel's clan
symbol upon them if he wanted to maintain the pretence that Raziel was a
traitor?
50. Certain vampires have the symbol of their clan upon their back. (Morlock
is an explicit example)
51. When Raziel arrives at the Necropolis, he shows his disdain of the
Melchiahim being so 'debased as to recruit fledglings from the desiccated
corpses here interred'. This is a rather ironic comment considering how he
and his brothers were created.
52. 'Omega' on the Eidos Forums points out a rather interesting church-esque
stained glass mural in Nupraptor's Retreat. You can find it by working your
way up to the balcony on the top of the retreat. Just before you go outside,
you should see a shaft of light; look where it is coming from and there it
is. If you shift to spectral, some arches should lower allowing you to climb
up to the mural. Does anyone have any theories on what this mural means?
53. Throw a spear down a long, unobstructed hallway then quickly shift to
Spectral. If successful, you should see the spear floating midair in the
middle of the hallway since time stands still in the Spectral Realm.
54. Just before the final encounter with Kain, stand in front of the door and
go to the Glyph menu and press the action button. Raziel will shift to
spectral but the cutscene with Kain also activates! Kain will not be there
but his voice will be and the vampire wraith in the room will attack Raziel
until he 'dies'!
55. If you are in the Material Realm and step through the warp gate to the
Elder God's subterranean caves, Raziel is sent to the Spectral Realm. Hence
you cannot visit those caves in the Material Realm.
56. In the waters of the Human Citadel there's a Rahabim vampire. I wonder
whether Rahab was planning an invasion and this was a scout.
57. Raziel is apparently not harmed by fire as he can stand within a fire
without any ill effects.
58. As Raziel is not harmed by rain, presumably he gained the rain immunity
that Kain also has.
59. For some reason, Raziel cannot carry weapons with him through warp gates
- he drops them as he passes through.
60. Zephon is the only one of Raziel's brethren whose corpse remains after
their death. The rest were crushed or thoroughly burnt.
61. Curious how the Tomb of the Sarafan was not located in the Sarafan
Stronghold of SR2 and Defiance. I wonder whether its location had meant
something to the Sarafan.
62. The Tomb Guardian, Morlock doesn't really meet his job description when
he's lurking below the Tomb of the Sarafan.
63. Dumah was apparently in the Spectral Realm for a significantly long time
as he can feed on Raziel's spirit energy.
64. In a nice touch of continuity, the red banner of Moebius' vampire crusade
is outside the Oracle's chamber as it was in BO (the guillotine, Sarafan
armour etc are gone, though that is understandable).
65. As Raziel's material body weakens, blue lines streak across his body
occasionally. As he weakens further, the lines increase in frequency.
66. Seeing as one of the Chronoplast portals show Raziel's arrival in the
Elder God's chamber, this means they are somehow able to see into the
Spectral Realm.
67. Along the corridor of the Chronoplast portals, there is a repeated mural
of a winged being. This is possibly foreshadowing to SR2.
68. Curiously, in the Chronoplast portal that shows Raziel striking Ariel
down, this does not take place at the Pillars when Ariel is supposedly bound
to the Pillars until Kain's death.
69. If you throw a spear at a vampire from a distance, it will impale him
regardless of his health.
#######################################################
5. SOUL REAVER 2 -THE LEGACY OF KAIN SERIES- [2001]
#######################################################
Platforms: Sony Playstation 2, PC (Sega Dreamcast version cancelled)
First Released: 29th October 2001 (US), 16th November 2001 (UK)
Classification: M (US), 15+ (UK)
Published by: Eidos
Developed by: Crystal Dynamics
Directed by: Amy Hennig
Produced by: Rosaura Sandoval
Music by: Kurt Harland and Jim Hedges
Written by: Amy Hennig
-------------------------------------------------------
'Raziel returns with a vengeance!
Raziel emerges from the time portal and returns to
different eras of Nosgoth's past in his relentless
pursuit of Kain. Confronting the shadows of an
unremembered past, he discovers a web of destiny
stretching far into Nosgoth's dim, unrecorded history.
As his destiny comes full circle, Raziel finds his
personal vendetta transformed into a hero's journey,
with the fate of Nosgoth hanging in the balance.'
-------------------------------------------------------
After the cliffhanger ending at the end of Soul Reaver, Crystal Dynamics
planned a sequel on Playstation 2 and Dreamcast. However the Dreamcast
version was never released following Sega's decision to cease production of
that console and any more Sega hardware.
This game follows immediately after Soul Reaver with Raziel in pursuit of
Kain, after the latter fled through a time portal. During this game Raziel
discovers more of his and Nosgoth's history.
Like the previous Soul Reaver title, it begins with a FMV produced by GlyphX.
It consists of an abbreviated version of SR's ending to remind players of the
story. The Playstation 2 improves the fluidity of Raziel's actions especially
gliding and the Reaver looks better as a wraith blade.
The game plays similar to Soul Reaver but is more linear. There are no secret
areas to be found like in the previous games and you hardly ever go where
you're not supposed to go.
The old SR combat system has been improved, the Soul Reaver finishing blow
has been removed along with the grapple and throw that SR gamers found
infuriating. There are more weapons in this game and the Soul Reaver has
become more powerful; consuming the souls of enemies, leeching off Raziel's
health if it gets too powerful and able to be summoned at will.
This game contains a set of Bonus Materials, some of which are locked until
you get a code to unlock them at the end of the game. (Apparently the PC
version of this game does not have these Bonus Materials.) It consists of
concept art, voice sessions and outtakes, information on previous games,
photographs of the voice cast and crew and the Dark Chronicle, similar to the
Dark Diary, except it's a script of the major events in the game (instead of
movies). In the plot summary, I will use the chapter titles to divide it into
sections.
(Note: I have created a Bonus Materials FAQ on GameFAQs.)
############
i) The Plot
############
########
PROLOGUE
########
Raziel, after a long journey, through the dying Nosgoth, finally confronts
Kain within Moebius' Chronoplast chamber. Kain greets Raziel by announcing
his disappointment at Raziel's slow progress. He wonders whether Raziel was
troubled in murdering his brothers. Raziel's response to this is to ask
whether Kain was troubled in ordering his execution. Kain only laughs in
response to the irony of the question.
Kain tells Raziel how he found these chambers centuries ago and the vast
knowledge contained within. He believes that he would have never been able to
understand any of it as a human and that his vampirism has made him like a
god. As he talks, he activates a switch on the wall, which causes a device at
the ceiling of the room to rotate.
Kain believes that everyone's fate is predestined; everyone is forced to play
out a prewritten fate. Fatalistically, Kain announces that free will is an
illusion.
Raziel interrupts Kain's speech by revealing to Kain how he knows that Kain
raided the Tomb of the Sarafan and turned the Sarafan Priests into vampires.
Raziel leaps at Kain in anger but Kain effortlessly catches him in mid air
with one hand and hurls him back across the room. As Raziel slowly gets up,
Kain tells him that the Sarafan were the perfect choice to be his lieutenants
as their desire for the annihilation of vampires had made them the perfect
assassins, considering themselves beyond good and evil.
Raziel doesn't agree and tells Kain that the Sarafan were merely trying to
save Nosgoth from the menace of vampires. Quickly turning around, Raziel
takes Kain by surprise and kicks him to the wall. Amused, Kain allows Raziel
to pin him against the wall as he tells him that although he has discovered
his past, he knows nothing about the Sarafan; they were nowhere as noble as
Raziel believes them to be. Kain frees himself from Raziel's grip and blasts
Raziel across the room using telekinesis. As he activates a third switch, a
time portal in the room activates.
Kain tells Raziel that Sarafan were simply the same as them. After mocking
Raziel, Kain tells him that fate has promised that this is not the end of
their story. He steps into the time portal. Raziel gets up and, pausing only
briefly, follows Kain into the portal. He arrives somewhere in a cloud of
smoke as the Time Steamer Moebius welcomes him.
#####################
CHAPTER ONE - ARRIVAL
#####################
Raziel recognizes the Time Streamer and raises the Wraith Blade in caution
but the staff that Moebius holds deactivates it. Alarmed, Raziel grabs
Moebius by the neck and threatens to kill him. But Moebius knows that he
won't; that will be left to Kain 30 years from now. Raziel has apparently
travelled back in time 30 years before Kain's decision at the Pillars. As
Raziel releases him in disgust, Moebius explains how he knew his human
Sarafan self and how they are now standing within the Sarafan Stronghold
centuries after their murder.
Raziel follows him into the room where Vorador had slaughtered the six
Members of the Circle of Nine centuries ago and finds them memorialised in
murals adorning the walls. Vorador on the other hand has been demonised. Only
Moebius and two others of the Circle survived the massacre. Raziel knows that
Moebius is deceitful but Moebius argues that he only knows such from Kain's
stories.
While he tries to gain Raziel's trust, Moebius explains that he has dragged
Raziel out of the time stream to prevent him going head first into a battle
with Kain. He uses his staff to activate an image in a basin of water to show
Raziel that Kain is waiting for him at the Pillars of Nosgoth. Raziel is
surprised that the Pillars are still standing in this time era. After
persuading Raziel to re-embrace his humanity and Sarafan heritage, Moebius
warns Raziel about his vampire hunters then leaves him on his own to escape
the Stronghold then find Kain.
Alone in the room, Raziel notices a second Time Streaming chamber. However it
is locked and possesses a red crystal above the doorway. Raziel is yet to
discover its purpose. Leaving the room, Raziel encounters and defeats the
vampire hunters of Moebius' Crusade against vampires. Decorating the
Stronghold, are stained glass windows indicating the nobility stolen from him
when Kain raided the Tomb of the Sarafan.
In the main hall of the Stronghold, the power of the Wraith Blade returns
once far away from the influence of Moebius' staff. Raziel wonders as to the
reason why the staff can disable the Wraith Blade and realises how Moebius'
Crusade was so effective at exterminating vampires.
####################################
CHAPTER TWO - THE REAVER CONVERGENCE
####################################
Raziel enters the chapel part of the hall and as he does so the room begins
to distort and warp around him. He gains a feeling of displacement and
vertigo. As he gets closer to a Sarcophagus in the room, the feeling of
displacement increases. Raziel finds the source of the displacement; the
physical Soul Reaver lying upon a Sarcophagus, which is that of William the
Just. Raziel remembers how the young Kain, manipulated by Moebius, had
assassinated William and inadvertently triggered the humans' genocidal war
against the vampires.
The Soul Reaver is broken, apparently in the battle between Kain and William.
As Raziel touches it, the Wraith Blade uncoils and wraps around the Soul
Reaver. Now, the Wraith Blade becomes fully aroused as it takes control of
Raziel and uses his energy to repair the broken Soul Reaver. Before Raziel's
energy is drained completely, the Wraith Blade stops and gives control back
to Raziel so as not destroy its host. Raziel realizes that Moebius has been
watching him from behind and advances threatening on him holding both the
physical Soul Reaver and the Wraith Blade.
Moebius claims that this was none of his doing when he only wants to aid
Raziel. Raziel taunts Moebius by wondering out loud what the conjoined Reaver
blades would do to Moebius' fragile shell. Moebius, truly terrified, begs
Raziel to spare his life. Raziel notices he is not holding his staff and
mocks Moebius about his courage coming from his staff. Raziel is about to
strike Moebius down with the Reaver blades but stops himself when Moebius
mentions the Wheel of Fate. Moebius claims that he also serves the Elder God
and that Raziel should not take the risk of striking down another of its
servants.
Disgusted, Raziel throws the physical Soul Reaver away and leaves Moebius.
Moebius claims Raziel should kill Kain for the Elder God but Raziel says that
his vengeance is motivation enough. Now that Raziel is away from him, Moebius
quickly closes the gates of the chapel and says under his breath that Raziel
almost did kill him but that will be the last chance he will have.
Now that the Wraith Blade is fully awakened it no longer sustains Raziel and
in fact is a sentient parasite competing for control. Raziel can now summon
Wraith Blade at will, even if his strength is not full. If used against
enemies, the Wraith Blade will consume their souls, preventing Raziel from
doing so. Also, if the Wraith Blade were to become fully aroused it would
begin to leech energy from Raziel.
#####################################
CHAPTER THREE - THE HEART OF DARKNESS
#####################################
In the same chapel Raziel catches sight of a stained glass window. It depicts
the oldest and most diabolical vampire Janos Audron. The legend was that he
terrorised the villagers of the town of Uschtenheim far in the north until
the Sarafan hunted him down and tore his heart out. The heart became known as
the 'Heart of Darkness' and could apparently revive vampires. The Sarafan
guarded it carefully so it did not fall into the wrong hands.
Raziel wonders whether Janos Audron was truly as monstrous as the Sarafan
claims or whether the Sarafan were painting Janos in a dark light as to
glorify themselves.
Further within the Stronghold, Raziel finds a room memorialising the Sarafan.
There are murals of Raziel's brothers and a statue of Raziel himself in the
room. Seeing the statue of his human Sarafan self, Raziel feels a sense of
injury, loss and betrayal. His desire for Kain's demise is much amplified
now.
Exiting the Stronghold, Raziel's eyes see the pre-fallen Nosgoth for the
first time. Abundant with life, Raziel realizes the world he left behind was
nothing more than Nosgoth's corpse. Raziel senses the Pillars to the
northwest and sets out to confront Kain there.
The Stronghold lies near the Southern Lake and Raziel finds a strange door on
one of its banks. Although it is designed to open in response to the Reaver,
it appears that something else other than simply his Wraith Blade is required
to open the door. The symbol on the door is of two circles, the smaller one
eclipsing the other at the base.
As Raziel passes a nearby post, it draws a portion of the Wraith Blade's
energy into it. If Raziel's energy is depleted in the Spectral Realm, this
post will automatically draw his soul to it and restore Raziel.
Finally away from the Stronghold and the lake, Raziel senses that he will be
returning to this place sometime in the future. However, there is no visible
means of entry as the ledge Raziel used to escape the Stronghold is now far
beyond his reach. Raziel notices a locked gateway into the Stronghold with a
red crystal above it, much like the one he saw above the Time Streaming
Chamber. This crystal is apparently the key to open both doors but Raziel
currently has no clue how to operate it.
On the way to the Pillars, Raziel sees vampires impaled on stakes everywhere.
These vampires look very human and nothing like the 'deranged jackals' of
Kain's empire in the future. Even though Raziel agrees that vampirism is a
plague to be wiped out, he also believes that this crusade has no sense of
righteousness; it is purely cold-blooded persecution. Everywhere on his path
to the Pillars, Raziel encounters vampire hunters, who try to kill him but
are no match for Raziel.
############################################
CHAPTER FOUR - THE CORRUPTION OF THE PILLARS
############################################
Finally arriving at the Pillars, Raziel for the first time sees the
uncorrupted Pillars, complete and pristine, rising infinitely into the sky.
He is affected by the beauty of this sight but his mood changes once he
catches sight of Kain standing at the centre of them. Summoning the Wraith
Blade, Raziel sneaks behind him.
Without turning, Kain tells Raziel he is aware of his presence. Raziel tells
Kain that, even though Moebius led him here, he would've guessed Kain would
choose to meet him here. Kain warns him to stay away from Moebius. Raziel
demands Kain face him and end this chase between them. However, Kain only
replies that this is not a chase but that they are merely following the path
of destiny. Kain has seen the beginning and end of their fate and doesn't
like what he sees. Kain wants it rewritten.
Raziel is tired of Kain's talk, again demanding that Kain face him and not
have to die a coward's death. Kain finally turns and urges Raziel to watch
and listen to what is about to happen. He tells Raziel that in this moment;
Ariel is about to be murdered, Kain is about to be born to replace her and
Nosgoth is about to be betrayed. In that moment, Raziel watches in horror as
a psychic shockwave hits the Pillars and corrupts them, turning them cracked
and black.
Kain recounts what is happening. Nupraptor, finding his love murdered, goes
insane. This insanity infects all of the other guardians including Kain. The
Circle of Nine is corrupted and Kain becomes unable to fulfil his destiny as
Balance Guardian.
Raziel criticizes Kain for murdering all the members of the Circle but
halting when it came down to himself. He wonders why he has to do what Kain
didn't have the courage to do himself. Annoyed, Kain tells Raziel that he
knows that his desire for Kain's death is not for any noble reasons, simply
for revenge. Kain was counting on that. Seeing that this insults Raziel, Kain
tells Raziel that there is no shame in wanting to hate anyone as long as the
hate is sincere.
Resuming his recollection of Nosgoth's history, Kain then goes on to tell
Raziel about his decision at the Pillars comparing it to tossing a coin. If
it lands one way, Kain sacrifices himself and restores the Pillars but
ensures the extinction of vampires. If it lands on the other side then Kain
does not sacrifice himself and damns the Pillars and Nosgoth to an eternity
of decay. Kain agrees with Raziel that the Pillars must be restored. Raziel
wonders why then Kain has led him along on this game.
Kain tells Raziel that the Pillars don't belong to the humans but the
vampires. Raziel believes this is just an arrogant fantasy of Kain's. Kain
tells Raziel there's a third option hidden inside Raziel's presence here.
After imploring Raziel to discover his destiny, Kain leaves Raziel wondering
what Kain's decision would've been if the coin had landed on its edge.
Raziel wonders why he allowed Kain to escape after chasing him for so long.
But Raziel has been intrigued by Kain's words and becomes determined to
discover the secrets of Nosgoth and unearthing the destiny Kain claims is
laid out for him here.
During his whole journey since he left the Stronghold, Raziel feels that
someone has been watching him. Everywhere there are crows that disappear if
Raziel gets close to them. Deciding to ignore them for now, Raziel continues
on his journey.
Raziel finally finds a door that looks like it has been sealed for centuries.
This door has the image of a blue skinned, winged being with cloven hands
much like Raziel. The key to open the door is the Reaver. Raziel finds it to
be no coincidence that he is standing before this door. Placing the Wraith
Blade into the keyhole, the door opens and Raziel enters. Inside is a system
of caves and the inhabitants are a group of hostile, soulless creatures known
as Shades, which Raziel cannot feed from.
############################
CHAPTER FIVE - THE ELDER GOD
############################
Raziel finds a room in which a lower section of the Pillars reside. He
realizes that humans did not build this room or the Pillars. The murals in
the room intrigue Raziel. One depicts an angelic winged race with blue skin
battling another race of grey coloured beings, the next depicts the blue
winged race standing in front of the Pillars after apparently defeating their
opponents and the last depicts them in agony apparently from blood thirst.
And everywhere are images of the Soul Reaver. Before Raziel can decipher
these images further, a familiar voice warns him not to be deceived by the
images.
Hearing the voice from the water underneath the platform he stands on, Raziel
walks to the edge and sees a giant squid with his tentacles wrapped around
the Pillars. It is the Elder God. Raziel tells it that he enjoyed its absence
while it lasted and mockingly asks for the convenient reason that it is here.
The Elder God replies that it is omnipresent.
Raziel believes that the Elder God is not as powerful as it would have him
believe because, following his journey through time, Raziel no longer needs
the Elder God but it appears to be the case the other way round. The Elder
God reminds Raziel of his task. When it claims Raziel forever owes debt to
it, Raziel is hardly grateful to the Elder God for reviving him as the
abomination he is. But the Elder God reminds Raziel that it was Kain who
caused him to be the way he is, that it did was restore him.
Aware of Raziel allowing Kain to escape moments ago, the Elder God warns
Raziel not to fail it. Raziel tells it that he does not serve it, Kain or
Moebius but carries out his own will. With an ominous tone, the Elder God
tells Raziel that Moebius is its 'good servant'. Raziel muses about how
Moebius' faith would be affected if he knew his 'God' was a giant squid.
The Elder God notices Raziel new rebellious behaviour towards it and warns
him not be deceived by Kain. Raziel knows that he is being manipulated by
many and claims only to seek the truth. The Elder God tells Raziel that the
truth is that the Wheel of Fate is needed to sustain life but it has been
obstructed by vampires, Raziel is needed to stop the vampires, free their
souls and restore the cycle of the Wheel of Fate. Raziel needs to kill Kain.
Raziel agrees that Kain deserves to die but only if and when he decides he
should. The Elder God reminds Raziel that Kain threw him into the Abyss
simply out of jealously when Raziel had served him faithfully for a
millennium in an attempt to guile him on.
Raziel swims into the waters of the subterranean ruins and finds his way out.
He resurfaces into a dark swamp with the light barely making its way through
the trees. The mud of the swamp restricts Raziel's movement greatly. One of
the first things Raziel notices is a Time Streaming Chamber but the door is
sealed shut and Raziel is unable to open it.
Raziel comes across a door and kicks it open. Quickly turning around, he
notices somebody watching him upon a balcony. Upon being discovered, the
observer promptly teleports away. Raziel recognises his observer as the
vampire Vorador and realises it is he who has been watching him via the
crows. Raziel finds it strange that Vorador was brave enough to assault the
Circle but wants to avoid confronting Raziel. Raziel decides to go to that
balcony to confront Vorador.
In the swamp, Raziel finds a passage into the mountains but it is obstructed
by a tree and too high for Raziel to reach.
Upon the balcony, Raziel is unable to find the ancient vampire but finds
something else. Raziel finds a door intended to be opened by the keeper of
the Reaver. Placing the Wraith Blade into the slot, Raziel opens the long
sealed door and enters the ancient shrine.
Inside Raziel finds it guarded by skeletal beings known as Thralls. Defeating
them, Raziel climbs a wall up to a balcony and finds more murals depicting
the winged beings. Raziel realises that they constructed the Pillars, the
chamber underneath the Pillars and this place. Just like in the chamber under
the Pillars, the Soul Reaver is depicted as a holy icon.
Raziel finds a mirror disc and places it upon a pedestal. Sunlight from above
reflects onto a spherical ball of stone. Energy gathers around the sphere and
rushes into a crystal on the ceiling. Purple energy then shoots into an altar
below. As Raziel approaches it, the Wraith Blade of its own will pulls itself
into the altar and drags Raziel along with it. The Wraith Blade proceeds to
drain the energy out of the altar then releases Raziel. The Wraith Blade has
changed colour to a dark purple. Raziel realises that this shrine is a forge
intended to enhance the Soul Reaver. The Wraith Blade has been imbued with
the elemental power of darkness.
Throughout his journey, Raziel has seen strange basins everywhere. On his way
out of the Dark Forge, Raziel notices one now teeming with elemental
darkness. Raziel realises that these basins are intended to re-imbue the Soul
Reaver with the elemental power of darkness whenever it lost that power. When
Raziel placed the Wraith Blade within the Dark Forge all of the Dark power
basins throughout Nosgoth were powered up. The same would be true for all
other elemental basins.
Raziel's way out of the Dark Forge is blocked by a door with the symbol he
saw earlier on the door at the Southern Lake, two circles, the smaller one
eclipsing the other at the base. This is apparently the symbol of the Dark
Reaver. Raziel places the Dark Reaver into the door and it opens. He can use
the Dark Reaver to open the door at the Southern Lake.
#################################
CHAPTER SIX - THE VAMPIRE VORADOR
#################################
Raziel leaves the Dark Forge and is greeted by Vorador revealing himself at
last. Raziel reveals to Vorador that he knows of his reputation. As the old
vampire examines Raziel's strange appearance, he tells him that he has indeed
been watching him ever since he left the Sarafan Stronghold. Noting that
Raziel's arrival was soon followed with the corruption of the Pillars, he
asks Raziel whether he is the catalyst or answer of the corruption. Honestly,
Raziel replies that he doesn't know what Vorador is talking about.
Vorador reveals that he doesn't trust Raziel because he saw him come out of
Moebius' Stronghold. He muses about Raziel's appearance considering him more
demon than vampire. Again, he asks whether Raziel is the instrument of the
Pillars' corruption or their salvation. Raziel replies that he is neither.
Annoyed, Vorador tells Raziel that he has watched him unlock secrets that
have been hidden and locked away for thousands of years. He tells Raziel that
there is only one being is able to do what Raziel has done. He realises that
Raziel doesn't know just who exactly he is but fails to see the point in
telling Raziel since Nosgoth's corruption is beyond redemption.
Raziel is surprised by Vorador's ease to give up but the ancient vampire
explains how the vampire purges have taught him well. 500 years ago, the
Sarafan almost killed them all and now Moebius' army has almost completed the
Sarafan's work. He realises that vampires interfering in the affairs of man
does them no good.
Raziel asks about the images of the winged beings, the Pillars and the Reaver
he has found in the Elder God's chamber and the Dark Forge but Vorador
dismisses them as fairy tales. He merely claims them to be the delusions of a
race long dead known as the Ancients; the last one, Janos Audron, the
guardian of the Reaver, was murdered 500 years ago by the Sarafan. He tells
Raziel that if he is the person who he appears to be then Janos Audron would
have had the answers for him. But his secrets died along with him. Vorador
wonders how Raziel has come this far without the Reaver, stolen by the
Sarafan 500 years ago. He then teleports away, leaving Raziel alone.
Raziel, considering Vorador to be the most honest and outspoken person he has
encountered so far, trusts his words and decides to go back in time and meet
Janos Audron. But first, Raziel needs to find a way back into the Stronghold
and hence the Time Streaming Device; he guesses that he will find a solution
within the Reaver Forge he saw at the Southern Lake.
###################################
CHAPTER SEVEN - THE ELDER'S WARNING
###################################
On his way back to the Southern Lake, Raziel talks to the Elder God once
again. He asks it about the images of the winged beings in the chamber and in
the Dark Forge. It claims that the winged beings hoped to change the future
with these deceiving images. The Elder God warns Raziel about the dark forces
hoping to subvert Raziel's destiny.
Raziel muses about whether the Elder God is one of those dark forces.
Threateningly, the Elder God claims that if Raziel does not follow its
demands then his destiny will come to an abrupt end. Raziel sees this as an
empty threat because he considers himself to be far beyond its reach.
Ominously, the Elder God warns Raziel that its reach is longer than he
realises.
Finally, arriving back at the Southern Lake, Raziel goes back to the door he
saw earlier. Placing the Dark Reaver into the slot, the door opens and Raziel
enters the forge.
In the entrance hall, Raziel sees more murals of the winged race. These
images confirm for Raziel that the winged beings did indeed construct the
Pillars of Nosgoth. Raziel manages to make out in the images that Pillars
appear to banish their enemies.
Inside this forge, Raziel discovers new uses for the Dark Reaver. Plunging
the Dark Reaver into a Dark Reaver symbol upon the floor, a bridge of
darkness forms across a gap thus allowing Raziel to cross to the other side.
In one of the rooms inside this forge, Raziel encounters a large sentry eye,
one of the guardian thralls jumps out to attack Raziel, but the sentry
vaporises the thrall. Raziel manages to blind the sentry temporarily with a
projectile from the Dark Reaver and pick up a star artefact in the room and
get out before the sentry can vaporise his physical body.
After shining two lights upon mirrors in the main room, the light reflects
upon red crystals and a gate opens, allowing Raziel to enter with the star.
He places the star upon the huge statue in the room. Raziel steps back as the
statue comes to life, destroys the mirrors and absorbs the light for itself.
The energy bursts into the altar below. Now as before, Raziel plunges the
Wraith Blade into the altar and after it drains the forge of its energy, it
glows yellow. The Wraith Blade has been imbued with the elemental power of
light.
On his way out, Raziel notices his exit locked. However, there is a red
crystal above the door just like above the Time Streaming Chamber and the
entrance to the Stronghold. Raziel fires a Light Reaver projectile at it and
the door opens. Raziel realizes that he can use Light Reaver projectiles to
re-enter the Sarafan Stronghold and Moebius' Time Streaming Chamber. He then
leaves the Light Forge and the door seals behind him.
Raziel manages to re-enter the Sarafan Stronghold by firing the Light Reaver
projectile at the red crystal.
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CHAPTER EIGHT - HISTORY AND DESTINY COLLIDE
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On his way to Moebius' Time Streaming Chamber, Raziel enters the chapel,
where he converged the Wraith Blade earlier, and finds a dead vampire hunter,
his neck has been snapped and he has been drained of blood. He immediately
knows who is here. Raziel calls to Kain in the apparently empty room.
Kain answers and tells Raziel that everything will be decided here. Kain is
standing in front of William's sarcophagus and as Raziel approaches Kain, the
distortion intensifies just as before. Kain tells Raziel that he cannot
understand the significance of this very moment but he needs to if Nosgoth is
to be saved.
Raziel replies that the only thing he understands is that Kain and Moebius
have both drawn him here, they have both manipulated him, which to him means
that he cannot trust either of them. Raziel tells Kain of his intentions to
set his own course without anyone manipulating him.
As Raziel begins to leave, Kain calls to him that it's not