The Legacy of Kain

By the way, I should mention that because of the Vampiric curse inflicted by the Hylden, Nosgothic Vampires are weak against the following things:

Water - Burns like fire if touched, kills instantly if submerged.

Fire - Vampires simply have no extra defenses againt it. Fire burns a Vampire in exactly the same fashion as a human.

Sonics - Extremely harsh sonics are capable of stunning Vampires because their hearing is exponentially sharper than a human's.

Sunlight - Sunlight will only kill fledglings. It weakens any other Vampire, but even during the day, Nosgothic Vampires are still stronger than most ordinary men. Older vampires aren't affected at all by sunlight.

Impalement - If a Vampire is impaled (not necessarily through the heart, just the torso) and they are left impaled for a period of time, then their wounds are incapable of closing. They bleed to death if impaled. Most Vampires can be resurrected after dying from impalement. Some vampiric bodies cannot take the strain, and being impaled simply causes them to dematerialize and disappear.

Beheading - If a Vampire's head is severed, he will die. However, most vampires can be resurrected from this as well.

Beyond that, Vampires evolve over the course of time. They are periodically given Dark Gifts by the powers that be. These Dark Gifts can range from anything between the ability to teleport to the ability transfrom into a cloud of mist. All Nosgothic Vampires are capable of superhuman strength, speed, stamina, healing, and a few other common abilities such as Slow Descent which allows a Vampire to land softly and sliently on the ground from any height, or The Whisper, which allows Vampires to communicate telepathically over any distance.

Just thought I'd point all that out.

Tonight's installment...

Blood Omen

From the moment he was birthed into this world, Kain was damned. 30 years before his death and rebirth, Ariel, the Balance Guardian, was murdered. The moment her eyes closed for the final time was the very moment Kain was brought into this world, and the split second that Nupraptor poisoned the Circle was the very moment of Kain's first newborn cry. He was destined for horror.

30 years later, Kain has become a vagabond. He was raised as the son of an aristocratic nobleman, and after reaching adulthood, felt that his life must have some greater purpose than simply carrying on in his father's footsteps. He left his hometown of Coorhagen and traveled the lands of Nosgoth for ten years, searching for purpose. By his 30th birthday, he had planned to return home to see what had become of his birthplace. He would not make it that far.

Since Kain was born, the only Nosgoth he had known was the perverted, decaying world of the Corrupted Pillars. His world had been in a steady decline since the day he was born, and he could see the vast differences between the world he currently lived in and the world he existed in as a child. That state of decay would soon turn it's misfortune upon Kain in the small town of Ziegsturhl. Arriving in the town at dusk, intending to stay the night on his way home, he is attacked by a group of brigands. He is robbed, beaten and impaled upon his own sword.

Some time later, Kain awakens chained to a pair of stone pillars set before a lake of roiling fire. He knows immediately that he did not survive the encounter, for he is still impaled on his large blade. Moments later, a figure dressed in black approaches Kain and introduces himself as the Necromancer Mortanius. He offers the beaten Kain an opportunity to strike back at his murderers and a second chance at life altogether. The one condition for the agreement is that Kain must do a favor for Mortanius after exacting his revenge. Kain accepts, and watches as his body is transformed from the fair human state he had enjoyed for 30 years into a devilish, dark figure with ash grey skin and stark white hair. He then realizes the depth of the agreement he had just made with Mortanius: he had just signed himself over to becoming a vampire.

Seemingly moments later, Kain snaps awake and forces his way out of a large stone coffin. He steps out and realizes that while it only feels like moments since his death, it has actually been much longer. Probably months or years, because since his death, he has been entombed and sealed within his family's mausoleum. Eventually, Kain breaks free, hunts down his attackers and slaughters them all while laughing maniacally. After executing the assassins, Mortanius contacts Kain through telepathy and tells him to venture to the Pillars of Nosgoth in order to learn what his side of the bargain would entail. By this point, Kain has already fulfilled his desires and simply wants to be rid of his vampiric form. He, like the rest of Nosgoth, loathes the Vampire race and wants nothing to do with his newfound unlife. He wants a cure, and decides to seek one at the Pillars.

Arriving at the Pillars, Kain is greeted by the scarred spectre of a mournful woman. She announces herself as Ariel, the former Balance Guardian, and tells Kain that since her death, she has been bound to the Pillars. Their decay bound her to them, and because of this, she is unable to fulfill her destiny on the Wheel of Fate. She explains to Kain why he Pillars had become corrupted and tells him that his duty is to restore the Pillars to their natural state. In order to do this, Kain would need to kill each of the infected Guardians and bring their Pillar token back to their respective Pillars. The Pillar tokens, he is told, are mystical objects that symbolize the power of the Pillar they each represent. She tells Kain where to find the first Guardian, her lover Nupraptor, and informs him that in order to restore the Pillar of The Mind, Kain would need to retrieve the Mind Token: Nupraptor's head.

So, Kain sets off in search of his first quarry. He reaches Nupraptor's retreat, a giant stone skull built into the side of a cliff face, and begins his infiltration of the stronghold. Kain fights off the Mentalist's minions, and eventually reaches his personal chamber. Arriving, he encounters not only Nupraptor but Malek as well. The Paladin has become aware of Kain's plans, and as such, has rushed to the Mentalist's aid. Nupraptor commands Malek to vacate his fortress, claiming that he himself will finish Kain off. Squaring off in battle, Nupraptor uses a number of lethal psychic attacks to attempt to fell the Vampire, but all of his efforts are in vain. Kain defeats Ariel's lover, severs his head and returns to the Pillars.

Arriving at the Pillars, Kain uses the Mentalist's skull to restore the Pillar of The Mind. Ariel and Mortanius then both speak to Kain, explaining to him that he was lucky to have bested Nupraptor. Had Malek stayed, the Vampire would not have been able to defeat them both. So, Kain's newfound advisors instruct him to seek the Paladin out next. With the protector of the Circle dispatched, the rest would fall much more easily.

So, with a new destination in mind, Kain sets out for Malek's Bastion. The only problem is actually reaching the fortress. Malek's stronghold is located on top of a massive stone pillar shaped much like a giant dinner table. There is one giant column reaching high into the air with a massive stone plate sitting on top which Malek's Bastion rests upon. In addition to this, the structure is located high in the snow-covered mountains, resting in the groove of a steep and narrow valley. There is no way at all to reach the stronghold on foot. So, to counteract these measures, Kain is granted the ability to transform into a flock of bats, and whith this newfound ability he reaches the mountain fortress.

Arriving at Malek's Bastion, Kain is greeted with a number of nasty surprises. First, Kain is unaware of the fact that most vampires, especially fledglings, are fatally weak against water. Touching water burns like fire, and submersion in water means instant death. Kain will have to trek through snow-blanketed fields outside of the Bastion's walls and inside the courtyard areas. On top of that, Malek has fortified his defenses with an army of golems, suits of possessed armor with no blood for Kain to consume if he is suddenly injured.

Eventually, Kain manages to breach Malek's inner sanctum and squares off against his seemingly impervious opponent. The warrior proves himself to be unbeatable, and in a final act of desperation, Kain uses a teleportation device to escape defeat at the hands of the Paladin. Frustrated, Kain seeks advice from Ariel, and she instructs him to visit a man known only as the Oracle, located high up in the winding cavernous tunnels east of Malek's Bastion.

Making his way through the Oracle's tunnels, Kain finds a number of interesting artifacts along the way. He spies suits of armor, flags and weapons from the Sarafan Order's time period. He has read about their exploits, and remembering now the tales of their Vampire Genocide, he reacts with revulsion rather than the admiration he had once felt for those "Holy Knights". Kain's vampiric nature is starting to grow on him.

Eventually, Kain locates the Oracle, a small, frail man in a shroud eagerly watching scenes of the past and future playing themselves out in the reflection of his cauldron. Kain, exhausted and impatient demands answers from the old man. The Oracle (being an eternal wiseass) chooses not to wait for Kain's questions, and instead provides Kain the answers to questions that the vampire has not asked, and isn't going to ask. He speaks the phrase:

"King Ottmar - the only hope to defeat the Legions of the Nemesis.
King Ottmar - paralyzed by his Princess' malaise.
King Ottmar - the useless."

Kain, tired of the old man's jabbering, demands to know how to kill Malek. The Oracle obliges the Vampire and informs him to seek out the only living creature to have ever bested the Paladin: Vorador. He provides Kain with directions to Vorador's Mansion, located deep within the Termagent Forest Swamp. Kain arrives at the looming Mansion shortly thereafter and storms through the stronghold. He is attacked repeatedly by the elder Vampire's defenses, including his large harem of vampiric "brides". While exploring Vorador's Mansion, Kain comes to the conclusion that this elder vampire is a vain, decadent and materialistic recluse, interested only in his own pleasures. Upon finally meeting the Vampire, Kain realizes he was mostly correct. Vorador proves himself to be an extravagant but intelligent creature. He welcomes Kain openly and offers the fledgling a chalice of blood to drink from. He recounts the tale of his defeat of Malek in the sarafan Stronghold over 500 years previous, and tells Kain that currently there is no earthly way that the younger vampire can defeat the Paladin. He tells Kain to end his meddling in the affairs of men. He explains that doing so will only bring more trouble upon the heads of the vampire race. Vorador also expresses his personal opinion that Vampires are Dark Gods, intended to prey upon the human cattle and thin their numbers accordingly. From Vorador's perspective, the humans exist only to prolong the lives of the Vampire race, and he assures Kain that it is not a curse that the young Vampire has been afflicted with, but a blessing. Taking Vorador's words with him, Kain prepares to leave, but is stopped at the last moment. The elder Vampire presents Kain with a Signet Ring that can be used to summon Vorador should Kain ever require his assistance. Thanking the elder for his hospitality and wisdom, Kain departs the Mansion and seeks more assistance at the Pillars.

Arriving, Kain is told that there are three corrupted Guardians living in the northernmost regions of Nosgoth, causing a great disturbance in the land. The land that they have taken up residence in is a region now called Dark Eden, and for very good reason. Kain, heedless of the fact that Malek is still alive and still a very large obstacle, traverses the Nosgothic plains until arriving in Dark Eden. Immediately, he is shocked at what has become of this land. A massive ebony tower has been constructed, and from it, a giant red dome of sheer putrefying energy slowly expands outward, mutating everything in it's path. The grass is green and healthy on Kain's side, the ground is a cracked bed of cooled lava on the other. Birds, squirrels and other natural creatures are scattered on Kain's side, while horrid, skinless abominations stalk the burnt fields of Dark Eden. Stepping through the barrier, Kain is amused to see that he is not affetced in the slightest. He comments on how he must simply be too vile a creature for the forces in Dark Eden to mutate any further.

Entering the massive tower, Kain notes that the inside of the structure is much larger than it appears on the outisde, which he attributes to the Guardian's abilities to distort space. He fights his way through a legion of the freakish accidents that he encountered in the burning fields. He hacks and devours his way to the top of the tower and encounters the three Guardians responsible for this atrocity: Anarcrothe the Alchemist, Bane the Druid and Dejoule the Energist, the Guardians of The States, Nature and Energy, respectively. Confronting the three of them, Anarcrothe allows his cowardice to get the best of him and summons Malek to their aid as he flees. In response to the arrival of the Paladin, Kain uses his Signet Ring to summon Vorador to his side. While Malek and the elder Vampire square off against one another, Kain pursues Bane and Dejoule into a back chamber and fights both at once. Bane uses his powers of Nature to transfrom sections of the ground into puddles of water with which to impede Kain and injure him at the same time. Dejoule positions herself away from the action and proceeds to launch a volley of energy-based attacks at Kain. The Vampire manages to defeat both of his adversaries, taking Bane's Ceremonial Headdress and Dejoule's Insulated Cloak to restore each of their respective Pillars with. Exiting the back chamber, he sees that Vorador is nowhere to be found, and Malek's armor is lying lifeless on the stone floor. Somehow, the elder Vampire managed to defeat the Paladin, and Kain is now free to take Malek's Helmet to restore the Conflict Pillar as well.

Seeking Ariel's guidance again, Kain is presented with what would prove to be his largest task yet. The former Balance Guardian explains that the city of Avernus, the largest kingdom in all of Nosgoth, has been overrun by an army of demons for the last few months. The entire city is aflame, and standing at the nexus of the carnage is Azimuth the Planar, the Guardian of Dimension. Kain makes his way to Avernus and enters his most trying quest yet. He battles through a legion of demonic monstrosities, all the while navigating the labyrinthine inferno of Avernus City. After hacking his way through a groutesque number of adversaries, Kain enters Avernus Cathedral, which sits at the center of the city. Entering the Cathedral, he is faced with yet more demonic opponents awaiting him within a confusing and twisted series of corridors and hallways. While exploring the Cathedral, Kain stumbles across the entrances of two alternate pocket dimensions contained within the Cathedral. One of the dimensions is molded after Hell, with flaming pits and fiery devils infesting it's corridors. At the core of the Hell Dimension, Kain locates the Wraith Armor, a powerful defensive tool. The other dimension is molded after Heaven, with massive marble columns, white clouds filling a blue sky and a legion of pseudo-angelic enemies to hack through. At the core of the Heaven Dimension, Kain locates the legendary Soul Reaver blade, a massive sword that devours the souls of it's victims. In addition to the two pocket dimensions Kain stumbles upon, he also finds his way into the Cathedral's basement. While there, he finds the long-dead corpse of Malek, still suspended by chains in the air, and also a massive ceremonial chamber that appears to be used for sacrifical ceremonies. While exploring the basement, Kain stumbles across a number of ancient documents that mention a creature known as H'ash'ak'gik. The documents also connect this being to a force known only as The Unspoken and another creature named the Dark Entity.

Finally, after much toil, Kain confronts the Planar Azimuth, now equipped with the Soul Reaver and Wraith Armor. She stands as no match against Kain, and falls easily. Having defeated his opponent, Kain takes Azimuth's 3rd Eye to restore the Pillar of Dimension. Upon returning to the Pillars and restoring the Pillar of Dimension, Ariel explains to Kain that there is now a much more pressing matter at hand than dispatching the last three Guardians. A tyrannical madman known as the Nemesis has been slowly advancing his berserker legions into the peaceful regions of Nosgoth, and the only military force that can possibly stop their advancement is Willendorf's Army of Hope, led by the wise King Ottmar, whom the Oracle mentioned to Kain before. Ariel explains that the Nemesis was originally a good and kind boy king named William the Just. Over the course of time, King William's mind was poinsoned by greed and a desire for power. Since then, he has mutated into the Nemesis and has begun his conquest of the rest of Nosgoth. Ariel tells Kain that the Army of Hope could very well end the Legion's crusade, if not for the fact that King Ottmar's only child, his daughter, has recently fallen into a deep coma and cannot be revived. Ottmar has lost the will to fight, and is prepared to let his kingdom die because of his misery. Kain must travel to Willendorf, fix the situation and rally Ottmar's forces against the Legions of the Nemesis.

Kain arrives in Willendorf and uses his Beguile Dark Gift to give himself the appearance of a human nobleman. He speaks with the King and learns that a man known as Elzevir the Dollmaker is responsible for the Princess' current state. You see, recently, the girl celebrated her birthday and for the occasion her father held a contest to see who in the kingdom could craft the best doll for his daughter. Many were submitted, and many were good, but none compared to the masterpiece that the hermit Elzevir contributed. He won the contest and his reward was that he could have any wish, within reason, granted for him. All he wanted was a lock of the Princess' hair. Baffled by the suggestion, but relieved that it wasn't a demand for riches, the King complied and allowed Elzevir to take the lock of hair. A few days later, the Princess fell into a coma and she hasn't been herself since.

So, with this new information in mind, Kain sets out to find the villainous Dollmaker and find out what has happened. He locates the hermit's cottage and enters, expecting to just speak with the man and leave. Instead, the vampire is attacked by the demonic creations crafted in the Dollmaker's workshop. Kain fights his way through a small army of possessed dolls and corners the Dollmaker. Elzevir attacks Kain, but proves to be no match. Kain returns to Willendorf with the doll that the Princess' soul has been imprisoned within in one hand and the Dollmaker's head in the other. The court sorcerers use the doll to restore the Princess, and Ottmar thanks the Vampire repeatedly. When asked what he would like in return for his great deed, Kain replies that he wants the King to mobilize his army and send it against the Legions of the Nemesis. The King, invigorated with new life, begins the process and declares war on the berserker army.

Days later, King Ottmar's Army of Hope and the Legions of the Nemesis meet each other on the battlefield. Kain fights alongside the Army of Hope, and watches as the tide of battle turns one way and then the next. The fracas meets it's crescendo and it appears as though the Army of Hope has won the day, until a foolish tactic costs Ottmar his lfe. The Army of Hope fights valiantly in their leader's absence, but the tide turns in spite of this and Ottmar's forces flee. Kain, surrounded by the berserkers, flees in the opposite direction, into the Lands of the Nemesis in the hope of somehow evading his pursuers. Upon venturing deeper into the Lands of the Nemesis, Kain stumbles upon a strange chamber equipped with a mysterious device of some sort. Ariel had mentioned this earlier to Kain, and had identified it as a Timestreaming Chamber, one of many built by the Timestreamer Moebius, the Guardian of Time. Hoping that all ends well, he uses the chamber to transport himself through time in order to escape death at the hands of the Legion.

Kain arrives, exits the chamber and looks upon the fields he had just fled through. Only moments ago, they were stained with blood and littered with corpses. Now, they were pristine, untouched. Venturing further outside the chamber, he comes across a small village and listens in on a number of conversations while using his Beguile form. He discerns that he has traveled approximately 50 years into the past (20 years before he was even born) and that the Nemesis doesn't even exist in this time period. The Nemesis is still King William the Just. Kain realizes that if he can kill the boy king before he ever becomes the Nemesis, he can save the lives of countless numbers of people.

Kain stalks through King William's territories, and eventually infiltrates the King's Castle. While making his way through the stronghold, he overhears a conversation between King William and an oddly familiar voice. Spying closer, Kain sees that the Oracle is holding company with the young King, and that he has come to warn William of impending disaster. The Oracle tells William that a Vampire has come to slay him and in preparation for the upcoming battle, the Oracle hands over this era's incarnation of the Soul Reaver to the young King.

Kain makes his way deeper into the Castle, and eventually enters William's throne room. The King awaits the Vampire, dressed in full armor and holding the Soul Reaver blade. He speaks briefly with Kain and tells the Vampire that he will have his head before the day is out. Kain brandishes his own Soul Reaver and the two commence their battle. As the fight rages, the very walls of reality around the two combatants strain and warp. The air vibrates, the ground hums and everything twists in and out of proprtion. Finally, Kain defeats his enemy, plunging the Soul Reaver into the boy King's chest and ending his life. William slumps to the floor, and as he does, Kain feels reality itself violently shifting it's course, changing the future to acommodate the alteration to the past. As the violence subsides, William's guards enter the room and pursue Kain. The Vampire escapes deeper into the Castle and finds another Timestreaming Chamber built within the fortress. He uses it and transports himself 50 years forward in time.

Returning to the present, Kain is not greeted with a war-streaked battlefield. Instead, he sees the same open fields and dense forest that he had traversed previously, free of the carnage of a timestream only remembered by himself. As he makes his way through the fields toward Willendorf, he is suddenly struck with a barrage of unnerving senses. He can smell blood. Vampire blood. A lot of it. And over the smell, he hears the fevered roar of a crowd of humans. He rushes toward the noise and is makes his way within the wooden ramparts of a town that had not previously existed in Kain's present day. In the middle of the large open courtyard, he sees the source of the chaos: a large mob of humans has been executing vampires in public, and their final victim is Vorador. With horror, Kain realizes what he has unwittingly caused. Kain, he himself being a Vapmire, killed King William the Just, forever altering the present and future. While the Vampire thought it was in the world's best interest to do so, what he didn't realize was that he had walked directly into a trap. By causing a past event in which a beloved and caring boy King was murdered by a Vampire, Kain gave a certain religous zealot all the motivational proof he needed to incite a mass genocide of the Vampire race. It is in this moment that Kain realizes that the Oracle has duped him two-fold. He tricked Kain into bringing about the downfall of his own race and he hid his true identity from the Vampire the entire time. The Oracle is in reality the Timestreamer Moebius.

Kain watches in transfixed horror as Moebius brings the guillotine blade down upon Vorador's weakened body, and hoists the ancient Vampire's severed head for the crowd to see. As Moebius fuels the mob's blood rage, he notifies the crowd of Kain's presence and tells them that their quest is almost at an end. Kain is the only living vampire left in Nosgoth, and he's got a furious mob itching to change that.

Kain hacks his way through an army of pitchfork-wielding vampire slayers, killing every last puppet that Moebius sends his way. In the end, it comes down to only the two, the Vampire and the Timestreamer. Moebius is no warrior, and having foolishly forgotten to arm himself wih his Scepter, he falls before Kain quickly. In his last moments, he informs Kain that he knows the Vampire's future, and his future is death. Kain remarks, "fool, I'm already dead," and cuts Moebius' head clean off of his shoulders. Taking Moebius' Hourglass, Kain is summoned back to the Pillars by Mortanius for the final confrontation.

When Kain materializes, he hides himself in the shadows behind one of the Pillars and listens in on an argument taking place between Anarcrothe and Mortanius. Anarcrothe insists that the Pillars exist for the personal gain of the Guardians, and he accuses Mortanius of treason for unleashing Kain upon the Circle. It is then that the Vampire realizes that the Necromancer Mortanius is, in fact, the Death Guardian and that he too must be killed. Mortanius concludes the disagreement with Anarcrothe by saying that the Circle needs to be cleansed for the good of the land, and that nothing is going to stop Kain now. Mortanius launches a death spell at his comrade, killing him instantly. Kain emerges from behind the Pillars and commends Mortanius for his ruthlessness, but quickly states that that won't stop Kain from killing him too. Mortanius accepts his fate but warns Kain that he won't be able to control himself much longer. He tells Kain that the true villain will reveal himself shortly, and that even after Mortanius is dead, there is still one Guardian left to kill. Kain takes Anarcrothe's Scales and Moebius' Hourglass and places them before the Pillars of the States and Time respectively, restoring them to their pristine form.

Once the act is done, Mortanius suddenly changes, as though he's no longer in control of himself. He taunts Kain and then attacks sending waves of undead minions after the Vampire. Kain bests the Necromancer and approaches his dead body. He takes Mortanius' Death Orb and places it before the Pillar of Death, restoring it and leaving only one Pillar left. The Pillar of Balance. Just then, Mortanius' fallen body rises from the ground and laughs. The voice emanating from the ancient sorcerer's throat grows deeper, more sadistic, more inhuman. Suddenly, the Necromancer's dark form mutates into a giant, black, horned demon. The creature is known as the Dark Entity, and he is the villain that has been pulling all of the strings. The Dark Entity explans everything, telling Kain how he possessed Mortanius' body and used him to murder Ariel, which he had anticipated would cause the corruption of the Circle and the Pillars as well. He had used his vile powers to protect Mortanius from becoming deranged by Nupraptor's psychic shockwave, and had used the Necromancer's body to exert his vile influence to further his own plans. The only flaw was in Kain's resurrection. Somehow Mortanius had managed to disable the Dark Entity's control over him for an extended period of time. While the Dark Entity scrambled to regain control, Mortanius had enough time to resurrect Kain and use him to undo the Dark Entity's carefully laid plans. Now all that was left was for the Dark Entity to be destroyed and the Balance Pillar to be restored.

Kain and the Entity fought one on one in the Pillar Sanctuary, and in the end, Kain brought the Entity's life to an abrupt end with one final swipe from the Soul Reaver. With all foes vanquished, it was then that Kain realized who his final kill must be. Himself. Kain was born at the exact moment that Ariel died and was chosen at that exact moment to be her successor as the balance Guardian. His first cry was at the exact moment that Nupraptor infected the Circle. Thus, since the day he was born, Kain was corrupted by Nupraptor's anguish. In order to heal Nosgoth, Kain would have to martyr himself.

And so he was pressented with his ultimate decision: would he sacrifice himself, thereby causing the extinction of the vampire race and the restoration of the Pillars, or would he choose to save himself and damn Nosgoth to eternal ruin?

Kain refused the sacrifice. He watched as a violent tremor shook through the foundations of the Pillars and spread throughout the land, cracking the ground and uprooting trees. He watched as a furious light scorched the sky and melted the clouds. He calmly watched as one moment of horrifying silence filled the world, and then turned his back and walked away as the Pillars shattered, spraying chunks of seemingly immortal stone to every coner of the land.

Kain refused the sacrifice for a number of reasons. The humans that he had worked so hard to protect had turned on him and had wiped out his entire race. He was the only Vampire left alive, and as such, his sacrifice would have meant the end of his species. And most importantly, he had come to fully cherish his venomous nature. He now understood what Vorador meant when he said the "curse" of vampirism was truly a gift. Kain's first chapter in his Legacy closed with his following words:

"Once I embraced my powers, I realized that Vorador was correct. We are gods. Dark gods, and it is our duty to thin the herd."

Tune in tomorrow for the third installment: Soul Reaver.

Good writting mang I read the whole damn thing and i actually enjoyed doing it good writting style mang !

I reccomend everybody to read this if theyre interested in Blood Omen Series..

1 thing i noticed:

Kain's name turned into Cain for some reason.. do u know why? (i dont :P im not testing u Hehe)

Excellent reading thus far. I'm actually enjoying BO2 right now, which hopefully means that the Soul Reaver games will be that much better. I might not read the Sould Reaver installment so that I can play it out myself though.

Still pondering the notion..

Tonight's installment...

Soul Reaver

"Kain is deified. The clans tell tales of him, yet few know the truth. He was mortal once...as were we all. However, his contempt for humanity drove him to create me, and my brethren. I am Raziel, first-born of his lieutenants. I stood with Kain and my brethren at the dawn of the empire. I have served him a millennium."

1000 years after the fall of the Pillars, Kain rules all. He is the undisputed Emperor of Nosgoth. Father to every Vampire in the world. Ruler over the six clans. Wielder of the Soul Reaver. He is a Dark God.

Shortly after the refusal of the sacrifice at the Pillars of Nosgoth, Kain began his conquest of the land. His first act was to raise his first vampiric children as his direct subordinates. For this task, Kain would undertake an act of calculated blasphemy. He would seek six individuals whose passion was capable of transcending all notions of good and evil. He would find six individuals who would serve him unfalteringly and eternally.

Kain searched the highest peaks and deepest pits of Nosgoth's landscape, searching fanatically for appropriate candidates to resurrect as his vampiric offspring. He found his new children sealed away in the Tomb of the Sarafan Sleeping Priests. It was there that Raziel and his five brothers were pulled from their caskets, which they had been placed in half a millennium ago. It was in that tomb that Kain unleashed his dark arts upon the corpses of those ancient Holy Knights and breathed vampiric unlife back into their bones.

Raziel was the first-born, followed by Turel, Dumah, Rahab, Zephon and Melchiah respectively. A millennium would pass, and in that time, Kain and his six children would raze the human world, while each of the six lieutenants would spawn their own underlings. The vampiric numbers grew until there were six full clans of them: the Razielim, the Turelim, the Dumahim, the Rahabim, the Zephonim and the Melchahim. Eventually, Kain's growing empire would blanket the entire world.

Massive furnaces were constructed to continuously blast ash into the atmosphere, blocking the sun out perpetually. The tribes and settlements of men were razed and human numbers were forced into a single corner of the world to be kept like cattle. And Kain's throne was built into the crumbling stone of the ruined Balance Pillar, constituting his most sacreligious offense yet. In time, his empire became the world, and the world of man remained only as a memory.

Since Kain's resurrection by the hand of Mortanius, and since the revival of his children, they have all experienced great evolutionary leaps. Instead of slowly changing over the years, however, Kain and his lieutenants would enter a state of hibernation, beginning with Kain and ending with Melchiah. When they would each emerge from this state, they would find themselves blessed with a new Dark Gift. This was the cycle of thier lives...until Raziel had the honor of surpassing his lord.

Raziel somehow pre-emptively entered his state of hibernation long before Kain, and when he emerged, he had grown a pair of bat-like wings. Kain came to know of the event, and as such, he demanded that a conference be held between himself and all six lieutenants. Raziel arrived last, and upon doing so, presented his master with a view of his new wings. Shocked and appalled by what he saw, the Emperor approached his first son and studied these new wings with a look of outrage. In a blinding flash of rage and jealousy, Kain tore the bones out of his eldest sons wings and condemned him for treason. Soon thereafter, Raziel was dragged to a cliff overlooking the Abyss, a churning vortext of water which was used to execute Vampire traitors and weaklings. Kain commanded Raziel's two brothers, Turel and Dumah, to cast him into the Abyss. They obliged and Raziel fell to his doom.

Raziel tumbled through the whiplash currents for nearly 300 years. The raging waters dissolved most of his skin, all of his internal organs, the majority of his clothing and his jaw. When he finally came to rest at the bottom of the vortex, he was destroyed. His skin had been tarnished blue, and his entire body had become a fractured mockery of the fair form he once proudly wore. Yet, somehow he lived. He stood on solid ground, marveling at the fact that he did not seem to be submerged in water at all, and had somehow arrived in some dank subterranean cave. He took his clan's shroud and wrapped it around the lower half of his face, to cover the absence of his jaw and to hide his ghoulish features.

Suddenly, he was identified by an ominous, rumbling voice. The voice announced itself as "The Elder God" and told Raziel that it was he who spared the Vampire lieutenant's life. Raziel more closely inspected his surroundings and came to realize that this Elder God was physically horrifying. He amounted to a monstrous, squirming mass of tentacles and eyeballs, which communicated in a deep, reverberating voice that seemed to echo through the earth itself. The Elder God proposed a bargain to the young ghoul, offering him a chance for vengeance in his new form. While Raziel regarded his new body as a step down from his former visage, the Elder God contradicted him, telling him that his form had been elevated, not diminished.

Raziel quickly earns a tutorial with his newfound powers and comes to learn that he is actually much more durable and much more terrifying in his new body than he had ever been as a Vampire. He is no longer a drinker of blood, but now a devourer of souls. He is physically stronger, faster and more resistant to harm than any Vampire could hope to be. He has become immune to the light of the sun, and has gained increased defenses against fire. Sonics no longer affect him, yet he retains his keen sense of hearing. The only weakness of his that still remains is his susceptibility to water. However, immersing himself in water will no longer kill him. It has a different effect entirely. Now, submersion in water will cause Raziel's Material form to disintegrate, forcing him into the Spectral Realm. Though, in the Spectral Realm, water has no substance, no weight. It's like thin air.

Raziel is informed that in his new form, he is naturally a creature of the Spectral Realm, and no longer one of the Material Realm. The Spectral Realm is described to him as being the demented mirror-image world in which the souls of the dead languished after their bodies had passed on. The Spectral Realm is the afterlife. However, being given supernatural gifts by the Elder God, Raziel is capable of focring himself into the Material Realm at will. He is capable of using a technique called the Spectral Shift, in which he can focus his Spectral energies and use them to manifest his form in the Material Realm. However, he is informed that he will need to constantly expel energy in order to remain in the Material Realm, while on the converse side, he will constantly regain life energy while in the Spectral Realm.

The Elder God teaches Raziel how to properly use his newfound abilities, and in return for his gifts, he simply asks that Raziel kill every Vampire he sees, devour their souls, hunt down his brothers, devour their souls, and finish off Kain. The Elder God had grown tired of the Vampiric rule and wishes the world to be returned to a normal state, which can only be accomplished by eliminating the entire Vampire race and killing Kain so that the Balance Pillar can be restored.

Raziel leaves the Elder God's chambers and emerges in the courtyard just before Kain's Stronghold, which had been built around the now-ruined Pillars. As Raziel surveys his surroundings, he comes to realize that he has been out of commission for much longer than he had originally thought. Nosgoth has decayed immensely, and is now only a rotted, mildewed husk of it's fomer glory. In addition to this, Raziel encounters many descendants of his brothers' bloodlines, and they have evolved into horrors. No longer are they the proud, noble warriors they once were. Nosgoth's Vampires have mutated into a beastly parody of themselves, feeding on carrion and skulking through the shadows like wild abominations.

Raziel is instructed by the Elder God to first seek out his brother Melchiah, the youngest of the six. On his way to the Melchahim Territory, he must first pass through his own lands, the home of his clan, the Razielim. Upon entering the gates of his former home, he is met with silence. The once-bustling streets of his lands are dead, as is every last member of his clan. The Razielim had been systematically exterminated by Kain's forces, and for this, he would pay dearly.

After exting his own dead kngdom and entering Melchiah's lands, he spies many members of what could only be his youngest brother's ilk. They have degenerated into zombie-like monstrosities, their moulded flesh barely clinging to their weathered bones. They rob graves for flesh with which to patch their own bodies, they prey upon small animals for sustenance and they grovel in the dirt like mongrels. Raziel is not pleased with this omen, and could only imagine the fate that has befallen his brother.

Eventually, he comes to Melchiah's Keep, a large stone and steel temple that descends many levels below the surface of the earth. It is in the lowest level that he encounters his unfortunate brother, who has become far more horrible than Raziel could have ever imagined. Melchiah now stands (or more appropriately slouches) somewhere between 15 and 20 feet tall. His original form is no longer recognizable in the slightest. You see, whatever flaw had occured within his progeny that caused their skin to rot away had originated in him first, and he had for the last 300 years made a steady practice of covering up his rotting flesh with the dead fleah of others. In fact, his body has degenerated so badly, that he has taken to fusing entire corpses onto himself in order to cover his putresence. That's why he has grown so large. He is now an ape-like, walking pile of dead bodies.

The two brothers exchange words briefly, Raziel damning his brother for allowing him to be executed, and the brash Melchiah damning Raziel for daring to question Kain's decisions. After heated banter, they engage one another in combat. Raziel watches in horror as his younger brother exhibits the ability to pass through permeable barriers, such as gates and fences, as though he is made of fog. Raziel evades the monster and uses the cruel torture implements located all over the younger brother's throne room to grind the abomination into pulp. In the end, Raziel devours his soul and recieves the Phasing ability, which allows him to walk through permeable barriers while in the Spectral Realm.

After defeating Melchiah, Raziel is contacted by the Elder God and told to make his way to Kain's Palace. He is was equipped to bypass his former master's defenses and confront him in his throne room.

Arriving at the Palace, Raziel shifts through the large iron bars blocking all of the entrances. Slowly making his way towards the throne room, he anticipates a shocking vision of his former lord. Considering how far Melchiah had devolved, he expects a samiliar fate of Kain. Raziel is, however, wrong. Upon entering the throne room, Kain greets him as though he has been expecting his first lieutenant all along. And he hasn't aged a day! Raziel immediately assaults his former lord with accusations of genocide and psychosis. Kain replies that Raziel has no right to form judgments until he can say honestly that he has been forced to bear the burden of responsibility as severely as Kain has. Raziel scoffs at his master's justifications, and halts as his eyes widen in terror. Kain has risen from his seat, and he is clutching a very fearsome instrument in his hand...

Raziel: "The Soul Reaver, Kain's ancient blade. Older than any of us, and a thousand times more deadly. The legends claimed that the blade was possessed and thrived by devouring the souls of its victims. For all our bravado, we knew what it meant when Kain drew the Soul Reaver in anger. It meant you were dead."

Launching into battle, Raziel attacks his master with his bare claws. Kain responds by teleporting around the room and firing bolts of energy from the Soul Reaver blade. A single hit is powerful enough to destroy Raziel's Material form, forcing him into the Spectral Realm to recharge himself. Eventually, Raziel manages to almost best the elder Vampire, until one foul mistake costs him the battle. He finds himself on his knees before the Dark God and prepares for his death as Kain swings the Soul Reaver blade downwards onto his former lieutenant's back.

...yet Raziel finds himself transfixed in absolute shock as the blade shatters upon his back, leaving only the hilt clutched in Kain's grasp. The elder Vampire is not at all surprised by it, in fact, he seems almost satisfied that it has happened. He remarks about how the two of them have come one step closer to their true destinies, tosses the useless hilt away, and then vanishes.

Moments later, Raziel watches as the writhing energies of the Soul Reaver blade re-form in the air directly in front of his eyes. He reahces out and touches the pulsing beam of light and watches as it snakes it's way around his right arm, attaching itself there permanently. The soul-devouring spirit within the physical blade has been set free and has permanently bound itself to Raziel as his symbiotic Wraith Blade. He comes to find that the Wraith Blade will only manifest itself in the Material Realm if he is at full health, but once it formed, it will sustain his life, preventing loss of health until he recieves an injury, at which point the Blade will disappear and his health will slowly dwindle as per normal. The Wraith Blade proves itself to be a fearsomely powerful weapon, capable of completely obliterating the body of any foolish creature that steps into his path. He is now more than adeuqately equipped to exact his revenge upon his brothers and his former master.

Upon trying to exit the Palace, he hears the voice of a mournful woman echo through the hall. Walking back towards Kain's throne, he watches as the spectre of the long-dead Balance Guardian Ariel materializes before him. Speaking briefly, she explains how she had come to haunt the Pillars, and that if Raziel was Kain's foe, that they were now allies against a common enemy. She offers Raziel her assistance whenever he may need it, and welcomes him to return if he should so require it.

Leaving the Palace, Raziel is contacted again by the Elder God, who informs him of his brother Zephon's current whereabouts. The younger brother has relocated himself and his entire clan into the corpse of the Silenced Cathedral, a human structure that was originally intended to be used as a weapon against the Vampires. Venturing into the Cathedral, Raziel spies his first glimpse of his brother Zephon's progeny. They have mutated into a horrible, spider-like breed of Vampire that descend from dark ceilings and wrap their human victims in webbed cocoons. Making his way through the monstrous structure (I'm not fucking joking, it's the longest "dungeon" in the game. I know far too many people that reached this place and just gave up entirely) he eventually manages to climb to the apex of the Cathedral, and enters Zephon's personal chamber.

What awaits him is even more horrifying than the disgusting mess that greeted him in Melchiah's throne room. His younger brother Zephon has mutated into a massive, insectile creature and has actually fused with the back wall of his throne room. His massive torso, head, arms and extra insect-like limbs protrude from the back wall, filling half of the room's space. Raziel comments on his brother's unfortunate appearance and accuses him of cowardice for hiding from the world at the top of his impenetrable tower. Zephon mocks Raziel's ghoulish body and taunts him saying that he will devour every last bit of his flesh and then toss the scraps to his children.

The two engage in battle, Zephon's spider-like arms jabbing at Raziel everywhere he goes. Periodically, though, Zephon's midsection spits out a foul insectile egg, which Raziel ignites and then hurls back at his opponent. Eventually, he manges to set his brother's entire body ablaze, and as he burns, he curses the soul devourer's name. Raziel consumes Zephon's spirit and gains the Scaling ability, which allows him to climb up walls like a spider.

Upon leaving the Silenced Cathedral, Raziel is contacted by the Elder God who informs him that it is now time to divulge the truth about Raziel's past. He directs the soul devourer to the Tomb of Sarafan Sleeping Priests, and allows Raziel to form his own conclusions about his past. Raziel knows what he was intended to learn the instant he sees a raided coffin bearing his own name. Kain had hidden the truth about his children's pasts, and now that Raziel has become aware, he is even more determined to slay the elder Vampire. Exploring the Tomb further, he encounters a creature simply known as the Morlock, a guardian set to watch over the Tomb and protect it from unwanted visitors. Raziel comes to realize that this Morlock is actually one of Turel's misbegotten children, a creature with tough scaly skin and large bat-like ears (ever seen the movie Gremlins? That's what they look like, only much bigger and much scarier). Raziel kills the creature and devours it's soul, gaining the Telekinetic Force Projectile ability in the process, which allows him to fire concentrated balls of pure force from his hands, or through his Wraith Blade for added effect.

Leaving the Sarafan Tomb, Raziel inquires to the Elder God where to go next and is told to visit his brother Rahab in a location known as the Drowned Abbey. The Abbey turns out to be a massive stone structure that is half-submerged in water. This proves to be very difficult for Raziel to maneuver through, because immersion in water will destroy his Material form, forcing him into the Spectral Realm. Raziel wonders how Rahab's clan could live in such a place and is greeted with a quick answer to his confusion: the Rahabim have developed an immunity to water, becoming an aquatic breed of Vampire. Their price for this advantage is an increased susceptibility to sunlight. The sun's rays are capable of instantly killing any Rahabim they touch, regardless of their age.

Raziel carefully navigates the Drowned Abbey, spending much time exploring the underwater depths while in the Spectral Realm. Eventually, he comes to Rahab's central chamber, a massive circular room with a series of stone columns spiraling like steps from the bottom of the aquatic cavern to just above the water line. Upon reaching the highest column, Rahab reveals himself to Raziel. He has become a massive humanoid shark-like creature, with an aquatic lower half like a merman. Certainly not as groutesque as his other brother's forms, but still a step down in Raziel's opinion. The two speak in a much more civil tone than Raziel's previous encounters, and the soul devourer asks his brother if he is aware of what the six lieutenants were before Kain resurrected them. He tells Rahab that they were Sarafan, the antithesis of all they ever believed in. Rahab responds that they were lost, but Kain had saved them...from themselves.

The fight commences and Raziel uses his surroundings to his advantage. He spies a number of stained glass windows surrounding the top of the circular chamber and uses his Force Projectiles to blast them all out. Once the chamber is flooded with sunlight, his brother perishes and his soul merges with Raziel's, giving the ghoul invulnerability to water and the ability to swim with speed and grace. Easily Raziel's most useful skill yet.

Leaving the Abbey, the Elder God informs Raziel of his brother Dumah's last residence: a fortified complex built high in the frozen northern wilderness. Equipped now to deal with the churning tides of the Abyss (which he would be foced to swim through in order to reach the Northern Lands) and also the snow-covered fields of his brother's territory, he sets out for the Dumahim Lands.

Arriving, Raziel is shocked to find his brother's abode almost completely deserted. Throughout his recent travels, Raziel had actually encountered more of his brother Dumah's children than any of the others. They had crept into every last inch of Nosgoth, lumbering along like bulky apes with hard armored skin. Now, he knew why there were so many of them outside of the Dumahim Territory. They had all left. Some cataclysmic event had obviously forced them from their home, and Raziel soon came to find out what it was. At some point, Dumah had grown careless, allowing his defenses to remain lax in spite of a nearby human settlement. One day, the humans attacked Dumah's complex, overrunning his entire clan, killing the majority of them and trapping Dumah himself in the process. When Raziel finally arrives in his brother's throne room, he is shocked at what he sees. Dumah, who has mutated into a much larger and much more heavily armored version of his progeny, sits immobile on his throne, frozen, impaled on three massive silver spears. Wishing to end the monster's life, Raziel pulls the spears from Dumah's chest, reviving him.

Awakening, Dumah thanks his brother, which Raziel quickly negates. He threatens to devour Dumah's soul before the day is out. Dumah responds by saying that not even Kain is his equal anymore. He has grown impervious to nearly all damage, which is why those three silver spears only bound him and did not kill him. Raziel responds that even the strongest of vampires are vulnerable.

The fight begins, and quickly Raziel learns that not even the Wraith Blade can damage his seemingly impervious brother. With no other options, Raziel flees, quickly trying to concoct a plan while on the run. He remembers a massive furnace room in the complex that he had passed through earlier on his way to Dumah's throne room. Leading Dumah through his own home, Raziel tricks the beast into entering the furnace room. The ghoul sets off all of the fire nozzles simultaneously, burning Dumah to cinders and ash. He devours his brother's soul, granting him the power of Constriction. The Constrict ability allows Raziel to form a band of Spectral Energy and wrap it around a target which he can then manipulate. If he ensnares a living creature, it will siphon off health and replenish Raziel's energy. If he Constricts an inanimate object, he can move the object about (mostly for the purposes of puzzle-solving) however he pleases.

Striding away from Dumah's complex, Raziel recieves another bit of information from the Elder God, regarding Kain's current whereabouts. The Elder God directs Raziel to the Oracle Caves, the very location that Kain visited over a thousand years prior when he consulted with Moebius in regards to Malek. Raziel enters the confusing webwork of passages, and eventually finds his way to Moebius' Cauldron Room, which contains a secret passage to an even lower level of the structure. Raziel follows the subterranean passages into a strange hallway whose walls are adorned with odd viewing portals. He peers into each one, and they show him visions of the far past, recent past, present and future. The scenes horrify him, and he continues onward to the core of the underground labyrinth.

Eventually, Raziel comes to the final room, the greatest secret that Moebius ever hid. Throughout his mortal life, he had constructed numerous Timestreaming Chambers all over Nosgoth. This was the largest and most powerful of them all: the Chronoplast Chamber.

Entering the Chamber, Raziel sees Kain busily adjusting levers and large dials adorning the walls of the tri-level Timestreaming Device. Kain mocks his fomer apprentice, asking if it troubled him to murder is own brothers. Raziel responds, asking if it had troubled Kain to throw him into the abyss. Kain replies by explaining to Raziel that he had no idea the true power that omniscient knowledge could afford a person. Kain now understands why Moebius was regarded as the most fearsome of the corrupted Circle, because the knowledge he held was unfathomable. He was capable of seeing and knowing the paths and destinies of all living creatures, and as such, was capable of manipulating them all. Since Kain killed the Timestreamer, he has been using the Guardian's own devices to enhance his knowledge of fate and of his true purpose in life. It was because of this that he could sacrifice his children to the void with a clear conscience.

Raziel accuses Kain of heresy for blaspheming the body of a Sarafan and turning him into a Vampire. Kain responds by asking Raziel if he is actually blind enough to believe the Sarafan of being altruistic, noble men. He accuses the Sarafan, and Raziel especially, of even worse atrocities than Kain himself had ever committed. Raziel, having heard enough of Kain's excuses, attacks the elder vampire and the battle begins.

Kain proves to be of very little challenge to his protege`. Now armed with the Wraith Blade, Raziel cuts through Kain's defenses quickly, almost killing him in the process. During the course of the fight, Kain teleports around the room, adjusting dials and levers, finalizing the process he was interrupted during when Raziel arrived. In the end, Kain escapes Raziel's assault. Gasping for air, the Vampire claims "hmm...Raziel, you almost had me. But this is not where or how it ends." With those final words the Chronoplast Cahmber opens a massive portal directly behind Kain. The Vampire steps through it, challenging Raziel to follow. The ghoul approaches the portal and just as he is about to enter, thr Elder God informs Raziel that once he steps through the vortex, he will be outside of the Elder God's influence. Raziel steps through.

When he emerges, he steps out of an undulating cloud of glowing fog and into a dimly lit room. He hears an ominous voice gleefully welcoming him to his new location. The figure steps from the shadows and reveals himself to be Moebius, the Timestreamer. Raziel realizes that he has been transported more than a millennium into Nosgoth's past. Grinning satanically, the Timnstreamer steps forward and says:

"Raziel. Redeemer and Destroyer. Pawn and Messiah. Welcome, time-spanned soul. Welcome, to your destiny..."

Tune in tomorrow for our next installment, Soul Reaver 2.

Pwn. Can't wait till tonights installment. I think people will really be shocked when they find out who killed the sarafan raziel .

Tonight's installment...

Soul Reaver 2

After confronting Kain in the Chronoplast Chamber, watching as his former master evaded pursuit by slipping into a time portal and then following the elder Vampire through the vortex, Raziel emerges in a small room located deep within the ancient Sarafan Stronghold. The soul devourer is greeted by the devious Moebius, who explains to Raziel that he has been transported to the era 30 years before Kain's death. Raziel responds to his company's words by unleashing the Wraith Blade and approaching the Timestreamer menacingly, intending to kill the deciever. Moebius responds by activating his scepter, which, curiously enough, does not disable Raziel but the Wraith Blade instead. Raziel, amused by this, offers to kill Moebius with his bare hands instead, and in a pleading attempt to stay his attacker's hand, the deciever professes that he wishes an alliance with the demon. He claims that he too wishes Kain dead for the restoration of the Pillars, and since they hunt a common enemy, they are allies. Raziel relents and hears what the Timestreamer has to say.

First, Moebius informs Raziel that he knew he would not kill him. His role as the Time Guardian offers him a great level of omniscience, allowing him to see each individual path and stream of time's flow. He knows even at this point that his life is destined to end 30 years later at Kain's hands. He then goes on to explain that although they are in the heart of the Sarafan Stronghold, the Sarafan Order has been extinct for hundreds of years. At this point in time, only Moebius' mercenary army of vampire hunters remains, and in comparison, they're not nearly as majestic or "heroic" as the Sarafan were reputed. (Make note, Raziel is currently in an era 20 years after the death of King William and 30 years before the events of Blood Omen. During this time period, Moebius' Vampire Hunter Army is in full effect, actively hunting down every last Vampire until their creed has been made extinct.)

Moebius concludes his palaver with Raziel by informing him of Kain's current whereabouts. The two men enter a small, circular stone room with a large, ornate stone basin filled with water resting in the center. (Anyone that has played Blood Omen will recognize it as the very room in which Vorador massacred the six members of the Circle.) Moebius waves his hand over the surface of the water and suddenly an image is reflected upon it. Raziel sees Kain standing in wait at the Pillars, and in this age they still stand pure and untarnished. Moebius instructs Raziel to seek Kain out and bring his life to an end. Only with Kain's death can Nosgoth's future be preserved.

Raziel leaves Moebius' company and makes his way through the large fortress. Along the way he encounters numerous Sarafan artifacts and images, the most telling of which is a large circular room built in memory of the Sarafan Inquisitors. There are detailed murals on each wall depicting each of the five Inquisitors and a large gold statue crafted in Raziel's Sarafan image. He also notices an ornate stained glass window depicting the Ancient Vampire Janos Audron. The scene in the window depicts the lond-dead Janos as a demonic, bloodthirsty entity that preyed upon the helpless people of Uschtenheim, a small town just at the base of Audron's mountain aerie.

Eventually, he finds his way to the largest segment of the Stronghold, a large chapel-like room with stained glass windows, stone columns and a large section of the back cut off with large steel gates. Passing through the gates, Raziel sees that it is a memorial, with a large stone casket resting in the center. Approaching closer, he sees that the person being immortalized is the young, deceased King William the Just. Raziel recounts the story told to him by Kain, that they battled, each armed with their own incarnation of the Soul Reaver blade.

And that's when Raziel begins to notice that something is terribly wrong. As he stands there gazing at the large stained glass window lionizing William and demonizing Kain, he realizes that everything around him is fluctuating wildly, the air vibrating, the floors and walls expanding and contracting. It is then that he looks down at William's casket and realizes that laying on top of the stone figure of William is the Soul Reaver. However, the blade is shattered in two, apparently having been broken in the battle with Kain. Raziel reaches out and grasps the physical blade and watches as the Wraith Blade uncoils down his arm and snakes down the length of the blade, mirroring it's twin. It is then that Raziel's grasp suddenly tightens, pain surging through every passage in his body. The Wraith Blade is leeching away his own life to repair the broken blade!

Finally, the torrent subsides and the Reaver lay whole again upon the stone coffin. Raziel realizes in shock that all along, the Wraith Blade has been asleep. No more than a symbiotic weapon attached to his arm. Now that it has undergone the Reaver Convergence, it has fully awakened, a ravenous, violent parasite competing with Raziel for control. From this point on, the Reaver will no longer function as it had before. Raziel will now be capable of activating the Wraith Blade whenever he wishes, however, doing so will mean a few negative effects in return. First, Raziel will have to sacrifice to the Wraith Blade the souls of any creature he kills with the Reaver. In addition, if Raziel feeds the Wraith Blade too much too quickly, the weapon will eventually lose control of it's hunger, blindly siphoning energy off of the nearest availble target: Raziel himself. Under these circumstances, Raziel must use the Reaver with caution, saving it for when he truly needs it and using conventional weapons or his bare hands otherwise.

Shocked at this turn of events, Raziel wheels around, hearing footsteps approaching from behind. There stands Moebius, whom Raziel insists is responsible for orchestrating this event. Moebius cries innocence, blaming the Convergence on Kain's machinations. Raziel raises his weapon, preparing to strike Moebius down once and for all. Raziel tells the Guardian that death comes for all people at some point, and Moebius solemnly responds that he is most certainly right. It is the nature of the Wheel of Fate. Raziel, shocked by this statement, halts his advance. Moebius clarifies, saying that the two of them serve the same God. He explains to Raziel that the Wheel of Fate, the inexorable cycle of birth, death and rebirth and the Elder God that Raziel has been serving all along are the same creature. They are allies in more ways than one.

Willing to stay his hand for the time being, but still not willing to pledge his allegiance to Moebius, Raziel exits the Stronghold, making his way for the Pillars. As the demon exits, the doddering soothsayer's demeanor changes from that of a trembling sycophant to that of a venomous snake. He turns to himself, smiling, admitting under his breath that Raziel almost had him, but that would be the last opportunity the demon would ever have.

As Raziel emerges outside, he sees Nosgoth for the first time in his life in it's pristine and beauteous form. He sees the healthy Pillars stretching infinitely into the bright sky, which is unmarred by the clouds of ash that blanketed the only Nosgoth he had ever known. As he makes his way towards the Pillars, he marvels at Nosgoth's beauty and scenery. Then suddenly, the picturesque image is shattered as he comes upon a group of long-dead Vampires, impaled on large wooden poles imbedded in the ground. Some have had their heads removed, some have had their skin flayed off, many have been profaned and defiled in numerous other ways. There are clusters of them impaled everywhere, and Raziel is mortified. By this point in his journey, he has come to think of Vampires as a pestilence, a parasite causing the decay of the world that absolutely must be wiped out. But, regardless of his opinions, he despises seeing his own brethren humiliated and disgraced in such a manner. There is nothing noble or righteous about Moebius' crusade, it's just blind persecution. It is at this point that Raziel's simultaneous hatred of mankind begins to re-awaken within him.

Reaching the Pillars, Raziel spies Kain admiring their pristine form for the first time since restoring and then immediately re-damning them so long ago. He quietly unleashes the Reaver and stealthily approaches Kain's back. Still standing a good ten feet from his quarry, the elder Vampire announces that he knows his young apprentice is there. He was just waiting to see if Raziel would give his former master any credit by not taking his senses so lightly.

Kain admonishes Raziel for allowing himself to be so easily manipulaed by Moebius. He warns the young demon to stay out of the Timestreamer's deceptive web. Raziel replies by asking if he would be better manipulated by Kain, sarcastically questioning Kain's moral fiber. He demands that Kain turn and face him because the chase is over, and it is time for the old Vampire to die. Kain replies that this is not a chase; they are simply being compelled to live out their destinies, their pre-ordained paths on the Wheel of Fate. He insists that he has seen the full spectrum of Raziel's and his own fate, however, he does not like the outcome, and as such, the two of them must rewrite history for their own good and for the good of Nosgoth. He asks Raziel to quell his desire for vengeance just long enough to let Kain explain a few things.

Kain asks Raziel to keep quiet, and during their silence they watch as the air around them ripples and darkens as if a thick poison spreads through the atmosphere. They hear a bloodcurdling scream of sheer misery echo through the world, and they watch as the pristine Pillars suddenly turn black and corroded. Kain explains that Raziel has just witnessed the corruption of the Pillars. At this very moment, Nupraptor has discovered his lover's corpse and has psychically transmitted his agony to every member of the Circle, including Kain, who at this very moment is only a few minutes old. He explains to Raziel that this was an expertly calculated attack, and it would be the catalyst for much darkness in the land of Nosgoth for many years. He recounted the tale of his decision at the Pillars and his refusal of the sacrifice. He presents the situation using a coin toss as the metaphor. On one side, Kain sacrifices his own life to save Nosgoth but he kills the entire Vampire race in the process. On the other side, Kain saves himself, ruling Nosgoth in it's damnation. Either way, the game is rigged and Nosgoth loses. Raziel responds, irritated and impatient, that after all this blathering Kain has made Raziel's point for him. In order to save Nosgoth, Kain must die so new Guardians can be reborn. Kain responds that the Pillars don't belong to the humans...they belong to the Vampires.

Kain then states that there is more to the story than it would seem.

Kain: There's a third option. A monumental secret, hidden in your very presence here. But it's a secret you have to discover for yourself. Unearth your destiny, Raziel. It's all laid out for you here.

Raziel: You said it yourself, Kain. There are only two sides to your coin.

Kain: Apparently so. But suppose you throw a coin enough times...suppose one day, it lands on its edge.

With that, Kain teleports away from the Pillars, leaving Raziel to his own devices. Confused, Raziel questions why he allowed Kain to escape, and then realizes that there is far more to the picture than he originally imagined. He leaves the Pillar Sanctuary and comes across a large stone door set into a cliff face, emblazoned with images of the Reaver and an image of a blue-skinned, cloven-clawed winged creature, very similar to Raziel himself. Inserting the Wraith Blade into a hole in the door, the ancient barrier opens itself for possibly the first time in millenia, and he enters.

Making his way through a series of underground passages, Raziel eventually enters a chamber directly blow the Pillars. The stone columns descend into the earth and into this circular cavern. The walls are adorned with more images of that same blue-skinned race of creatures, and Raziel makes comparisons between them and himself, noticing their angelic features while his are more demonic. The murals depict a war with a beastly race of grey-skinned creatures, and the soul devourer can find no way to further decipher their true meaning. It is then that Raziel hears a familiar voice emanating from the depths of a large pool of water underneath the central platform. It is the Elder God, and he is not pleased that Raziel allowed Kain to escape.

Immediately, Raziel responds in an insolent tone, expressing that he'd hoped his contact with the Elder God had been ended. The Elder God reminds Raziel of his duty, to destroy Kain, and Raziel responds sarcastically, reconsidering his blind adherence to the Elder God's previous demands. He further mocks the Elder God by asking if he thought Moebius' faith would falter if he was informed that he was actively worshipping a giant squid. The Elder God tires of Raziel's insolence and sends him on his way, reitarating that the demon is indebted to him and his final task still needs to be fulfilled. Raziel responds that when he kills Kain it will be for his own reasons and no one else's.

Raziel emerges from the underground passageways in the Termagent Forest Swamp, and upon arriving, notices a strange figure watching him from a high stone balcony. Raziel immediately identifies the figure as the Vampire Vorador. He takes note of Vorador's watchful sentries, a large number of crows that allow Vorador to see anything they spy. The elder Vampire vanishes afer a few moments, while his crows continue to watch the young demon. Further exploring the swamp, he eventually finds his way up to the terrace he had seen Vorador on before. He sees another large stone door built into the wall, emblazoned with the symbol of the Reaver. He inserts the Wraith Blade and enters.

Raziel comes to learn that he has entered an ancient shrine known as the Dark Forge, a structure built for the purpose of imbuing the Reaver with the elemental power of Darkness. All across the Forge he views numerous murals depicting the battle between the blue-skinned Ancients and their ghastly adversaries. After activating the Forge, Raziel uses it to give his Wraith Blade the power of Darkness, turning the blade into a writhing band of black energy.

Exiting the Dark Forge, he finds Vorador waiting for him on the terrace. The elder Vampire is not very welcoming, questioning Raziel's presence and appearance, stating that he is certainly not human and appears to be more of a demon than a Vampire. He then states his reasons for distrusting Raziel, saying that he has watched Raziel emerge from the Sarafan Stronghold, arriving in Nosgoth at the same time as the corruption of the Pillars and blithely unlocking vampiric secrets that have remained forbidden for thousands upon thousands of years. He states that the path Raziel is currently on is open to only one individual. He then realizes and vocalizes a question, asking if Raziel is aware of who he truly is. Understanding that the answer doesn't matter, he proclaims that Nosgoth is beyond redemption and that he can confidently allow the human cattle to keep ownership of it. Raziel replies saying that he expected better than this from Vorador. The elder Vampire responds that centuries of persecution have taught him to stay out of human affairs. Raziel asks Vorador what he should make of everything he's seen. The murals, the Reaver itself and the fulfillment of some sort of prophecy that Raziel does not fully understand. Vorador explains that it doesn't matter what Raziel does. The only Vampire in existence that could clarify the situation, the Reaver Guardian, Janos Audron was murdered 500 years prior and his answers died with him. Disappearing, Vorador explains that Nosgoth and everyone in it, has simply run out of luck.

Returning to the Elder God's Chamber, Raziel asks what he is to make of these murals and such. The Elder God explains that they are the failed attempts of a dead civilization to re-write the future. He warns Raziel that there are dark forces at work intent on subverting Raziel's destiny. Raziel mockingly says that he knows of these dark forces, but questions if he's in their presence right now. The Elder God warns Raziel that his insolence will only be tolerated for so long. Raziel replies that those threats are pointless, he is beyond the Elder God's reach.

Raziel decides to return to the Sarafan Stronghold to demand that Moebius send him back to Janos Audron's era so he can have his questions answered. On the way, he discovers the entrance to another Forge, this one imbued with the elemental power of Light. Raziel activates the Forge, forges the Light Reaver and continues towards the Sarafan Stronghold.

Re-entering the Stronghold, Raziel enters the chapel and spies a dead vampire hunter with his throat torn out, lying on the ground. He immediately knows that he is once again in the presence of his malefactor, Kain, and demands that he show himself. Kain beckons him to King William's memorial, and there Raziel sees his former master, gazing upon William's casket. He explains to Raziel that this is the apocalyptic moment of their undoing, that this is a crucial moment in their fates. He explains that their meeting in this place is not by choice, they were compelled to meet here. They have always met here. This scene has played out countless millions of times over the course of history, but this time, Kain intends to make it different. He explains that free will is an illusion. You can fight fate, change tiny little details, but the outcome will always be the same. Had Kain chosen not to come here and had chosen not to beckon Raziel as he just did moments ago, the outcome would have remained the same anyway. Free will is an illusion.

Except...what about King William? If fate truly is infallible, if the outcome truly is always the same, how was Kain able to divert the flow of history by killing William? The answer is in the Reaver. The Soul Reaver is the most powerful weapon ever forged, and within it lies the key to unlocking the power of the Pillars. One Reaver in one place and time is powerful enough, but two of them is catastrophic. That's why Raziel felt that sense of displacement and fluxuation when he approached the Reaver before, that's why he's feeling it now, so close to the Reaver at this moment. Kain felt the same thing while he was fighting William. Two Reavers in the same place at the same time can have a disabling effect on the flow of history. Fate can be altered under those conditions.

Concluding his explanation, Kain picks up the Reaver blade and approaches Raziel. The soul devourer immediately unleashes the Wraith Blade and warns Kain not to take another step in his direction. Kain replies that Raziel has misinterpreted his intentions as he turns the hilt of the blade towards Raziel and hands him the sword. The Wraith Blade snakes down the length of the physical sword and Raziel raises it to Kain's throat, confidently stating that he could kill Kain where he stands. Kain replies that that is exactly what is supposed to happen. Suddenly, Raziel's face is awash with horror as he feels history itself tug at his arm, trying to force him to kill Kain. Kain commands Raziel to fight it, to use every ounce of willpower in him to resist. If he can avoid killing Kain, they will be one step closer to achieving their goal. Raziel strains against the pull of history and in one final blinding moment of agony, Raziel raises the sword above his head and slams it through William's coffin, cutting it in two, burying the sword up to the hilt. Kain remains alive.

Moments later, the two feel the world around them violently shaking, straining itself to re-order the flow of time to accomodate this massive change. Kain was supposed to die, but Raziel altered that, and now the future must be rearranged to suit the change. After the violence subsides, Kain congratulates Raziel of being a champion of free will, for allowing the two of them enough of a future to restore Nosgoth to it's intended state. Raziel, disconcerned with being a champion of anything, leaves Kain's company to seek Moebius and a passage back to the time of Janos Audron.

He arrives shortly thereafter in the Timestreaming Chamber that he arrived in. As he enters, Moebius rushes in fretful and genuinely distressed. Raziel takes a considerable amount of joy in seeing Moebius in such a state of disarray, mocking him repeatedly. Moebius attempts to regain control of the situation be admonishing Raziel for not killing Kain when he had the chance. Raziel responds that he chose not to because he was capable of choosing not to. He exerted his own will for once instead of the will of everyone else. And on that, he states that it's now his turn to do some manipulating. He unleashes the Wraith Blade and commands Moebius to set the Timstreaming Device for an era in which Janos Audron still lives. Complying, Moebius activates the device and sends Raziel on his way.

Raziel materializes in the same room, only in a different time period. Stepping out of the Chamber, however, he can see that he has been betrayed. The Sarafan Stronghold is now a ruins, with rain pouring in from giant gaps in the ceiling. As he makes his way through the ruins, he is attacked by a new breed of warrior. Not vampire hunters. Their methods are much more attuned and much more precise than that. He comes to realize very quickly what they actually are: demon hunters. Raziel has been tossed 100 years after Kain's refusal at the Pillars, in an era where Nosgoth is being assaulted by otherworldly demons, which is evidenced to him several times in the Stronghold alone. Making his way out, Raziel stumbles across a massive gold statue of Moebius, lionized, holding the severed head of Vorador. Just as he's about to exit the fortress, he hears the voice of Moebius and turns to see his disembodied spectre floating a few feet away. Moebius admonishes Raziel, stating that his refusal to kill Kain has caused this nightmarish landscape. Raziel comments that he has no idea how in the hell it could possibly be his fault that Nosgoth turned out this way. He states that the Timstreamer's logic is flawed and should peddle his lies elsewhere. He then goes on to accuse Moebius of speaking nothing but mistruths, questioning if the Timestreamer is even actually dead. He then states that he has one surefire way of finding out though, and pulls down his cowl as though prepared to devour the Timestreamer's soul. Terrified, Moebius disappears as Raziel chuckles with satisfaction.

Exiting the Stronghold, Raziel comes to learn that the world outside of the ruins is no better than inside. Demons stalk the fields, demon hunters impede Raziel's progress and the sky is stained in a perpetual cover of black clouds. Raziel makes his way back to the Pillars, encountering Ariel while there. She laments about her plight, having been tethered to the Pillars, blaming Kain for it all. Raziel approaches her, and considering that it's a past incarnation of Ariel, she does not recognize him. He taunts her, saying that her years in limbo have deranged her mind. They argue as to Kain's responsibility for the decline of Nosgoth, she insisting that it is entirely his selfish fault and Raziel questioning if maybe his decision was the right thing to do. Eventually, she tires of his prodding and demands that he leave. Raziel obliges and continues on his way.

He travels once again through the Elder God's Chamber and the sight awaiting him digusts him to no end. There he sees the Pillars, broken, some snapped in half, while the Elder God's tentacles reach higher and higher through the cavern, wrapping around the ruined Pillars. Raziel muses that one might be so inclined to believe that it was the Elder God that was responsible for their decay, considering what he was looking at. He also stated that he found it quite ironic that the Elder God appeared to thrive in his cavern while the world outside crumbled. The Elder God then scolds Raziel for his failure to assassinate Kain. He claims that Kain's evil tongue has clouded the yound demon's judgment. Raziel continues with his mockery, laughing as he realizes the irony of the situation. The great enemy of the Vampires turns out to be the greatest parasite of them all. The Elder God warns Raziel, claiming that the soul devourer is his servant, and he can unmake him at will. Raziel responds that he is now beyond death, and so beyond the Elder God's threats. The Elder God responds that there are worse fates than death.

Raziel leaves, and re-enters the Termagent Forest Swamp, seeing the entrance to another Timestreaming Chamber hidden amongst the foliage. However, presently he is incapable of reaching it, for it is blocked by a thick, cracked stone door. Raziel continues onwards, finding new passages in the Swamp and eventually making his way through Uschtenheim to the base of Janos Audron's Aerie. He sees a large balcony built into the side of the mountain, but the roof has long since caved in, signaling Audron's demise nearly a millennium ago.

Suddenly, Raziel hears footsteps approaching behind him. He turns and sees Kain walking towards him, and reacts with disdain. Kain assures Raziel that he has not come for a confrontation. The two discuss Raziel's arrival in this time period, Kain stating that Moebius most likely sent him here so that he would be able to see the wasteland that Kain was solely responsible for. Raziel comments that Moebius' plans have had no effect, stating that if he honestly thought killing Kain would fix anything, he'd do it that very instant. Kain warns that there are dark forces intent on stopping the two of them, regardless of whether they are allies or not, their enemies see them that way, and as such, they must keep their eyes open. Because they have re-written the path of history, they are irritants in the flow of time. They must now tread carefully for history abhors a paradox, and if they push the boundaries of time too far, they could find themselves in a disastrous situation, which could possibly be exactly the outcome that their enemies are looking for. With that, Kain disappears and leaves Raziel to himself.

Exploring the mountains further, Raziel comes across yet another elemental forge, this one imbued with the power of Air. Raziel activates the forge and creates the Air Reaver, capable of blasting down compromised barriers, which is exactly the type of weapon he'll need to break into that secondary Timestreaming Chamber he spotted earlier.

Returning to the Termagent Forest Swamp, Raziel blasts down the door of the sealed Timestreaming Chamber and enters. There he finds a Timestreaming Device, unused and sealed for an unknowable amount of time. Incapable of knowing how to operate the device or how to set it for a specific time period, Raziel simply activates the mechanism, hoping to be fortunate enough to arrive in the desired era. He places his hands upon the magnetic poles and dematerializes, being whisked through the ether to an unknown time...

God Almighty, this one is going to take much longer than I expected. I'm gonna have to finish the rest tomorrow night. Blood Omen 2 will simply have to wait until Saturday. Anyway, tune in tomorrow night for the second half of Soul Reaver 2.

Man, I'm at work and can't just sit reading this whole thing.. and I really want to. I'm 2 days of reading behind, and probably won't be able to indulge myself for a few more days..