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.