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Chapter Six - Raziel - The Pillars (500 Years Later)
The Pillars
Raziel approaches the Pillars area differently from Kain. His route brings him to the waterfall ruin where Kain found the Dimension fragment of the Balance Emblem.
Raziel V.O.:
The vampire hunters - brazen as they were - feared to walk these paths. I knew one spirit haunted this place... perhaps there were others, as well.
As Raziel moves in the general direction of the fire sconce gate he witnesses the possession of a female vampire hunter. Her companions draw back from her in alarm. They will kill her if Raziel doesn't.
Possessed Female Vampire Hunter:
Prepare to die!
If Raziel approaches the fire sconce gate before getting the Fire Reaver -
Raziel V.O.:
These smoldering sconces seemed as though they would ignite. If only I had a fire source.
Dark Chronicle - Mural: The Forging Of The Reaver
Upon entering the Fire Forge, Raziel finds a mural.
Raziel V.O.:
I sought to unravel the mystery of my fate, and in this image lay my first clue. For this scene depicted the forging of the Reaver - the weapon destined to become my prison - and I recognized its maker. The years had changed him, but this was unmistakably the vampire Vorador - and in this era, he still lived. If I could reach him before Moebius's mob hunted him down, he would provide the answers I sought.
Dark Chronicle - Mural: The Dark Gift Is Passed
Raziel examines a second mural, next to the first.
Raziel V.O.:
These images chronicled Vorador's creation. As I already knew, he had not been born a vampire but had been turned by the infamous Janos Audron. But this mural suggested that Vorador's origins were even more significant - apparently, he was the first human to whom the dark gift had been passed. This was the Vampires' desperate bid to preserve their bloodline... for their enemies had cursed them not only with blood-thirst, but with sterility as well.
Fire Forge
If Raziel approaches the spirit vessel in the forge before defeating the Guardians -
Raziel V.O.:
This spirit vessel was not yet activated. Perhaps there was some means for me to awaken it...
Raziel phases through a gate and finds the tomb of the original Conflict Guardian. The soul of the Guardian still lingers in the room.
Raziel V.O.:
Approaching the tomb, I was met by the specter of the Guardian himself.
Conflict Guardian:
Eternity weighs heavily...
Raziel:
I have a solution.
Conflict Guardian:
I bear it in atonement... but your moment of existence has passed. Come, and be released...
Raziel fights, and the Conflict Guardian's soul enters the spirit vessel. If Raziel approaches the vessel after defeating only one Guardian -
Raziel V.O.:
Apparently a single soul was not enough to activate this spirit vessel. Perhaps another specter was lurking around here somewhere...
Raziel finds another tomb and another Guardian - the original Nature Guardian.
Raziel V.O.:
I was met by the specter of the Nature Guardian, monstrously deformed since its death centuries ago.
Nature Guardian:
Rejoice, creature, for today your spirit will return to the One -
After defeating both Guardians, if Raziel approaches the spirit vessel while still in the Spectral Realm -
Raziel V.O.:
The spirit vessel would not respond in the Spectral Realm. I had to return to the physical world to use it.
After defeating both Guardians, when Raziel drains the spirit vessel in the Material Realm -
Raziel V.O.:
As the Reaver absorbed the souls of the Nature and Conflict Guardians, it was imbued with the elemental power of Fire with which their principles were aligned. I was now equipped to reach the Pillars.
Dark Chronicle - Ariel, Specter Of The Balance Guardian
Raziel reaches the Pillars.
Raziel V.O.:
Once again, I beheld the Pillars of Nosgoth - crumbling in decay now, following the corruption of the Circle. Here I would find Ariel, the specter of the murdered Balance Guardian - and the last pure, undefiled member of the Guardian Circle. Bound here upon her death, she was doomed to haunt these Pillars until her successor fulfilled his terrible duty, and Balance was restored.
As Raziel comes closer, Ariel moves into view from behind the Pillar of Balance.
Ariel:
What manner of creature approaches?
Raziel:
I know you well, Ariel - though you do not yet know me.
Ariel:
I have no time for riddles, strange one.
Raziel:
All you have is time. I have come to seek your guidance -
Ariel:
I counsel only one man, and you are not he. But you will know him soon. The contagion of your kind is coming to an end.
Raziel: (incredulously)
My kind? What exactly do you think I am?
Ariel:
Your name shall remain 'Unspoken', as decreed by our ancestors. You serve the one who so brutally took my life and set this tragedy in motion. But even now, hope is at work. Balance will be restored, and your kind will be expelled forever.
Raziel:
You have pinned your hopes on Kain. He will disappoint you.
Ariel: (laughs)
What can you know of Kain?
Raziel:
More than you could ever fathom.
Ariel:
He will do what he must when the time comes.
Raziel:
By choosing his own death? A sacrifice for the world? You don't know Kain very well.
Ariel:
I know what he is called to do. My faith sustains me.
Raziel:
Is it faith or fear? You know that if Kain refuses the sacrifice, you will never leave here. And you begin to suspect...
Ariel: (dismissively)
I will not hear your poison, fiend.
Raziel:
Grant me the answers I require, and I will leave you to your pathetic delusions.
Ariel:
Ask, then.
Raziel:
I seek the vampire Vorador.
Ariel:
To kill him, perhaps? Or to join him in death? But for Kain, he is the last of his kind. Moebius's mob has done its work.
Raziel:
My reasons are my own.
Ariel points to the northeast.
Ariel:
His refuge lies in the heart of the black forest. And may you molder there together until the end comes.
Ariel turns and drifts away, then vanishes.
The Pillars (Continued)
Raziel finds an Air Reaver plinth/vent.
Raziel V.O.:
This seemed to be attuned to the elemental principal of Air.
Raziel activates the Warp Gate leading to the Air Forge.
Raziel V.O.:
I was transported to yet another ancient Vampire chamber - this one apparently aligned with the elemental power of Air.
Dark Chronicle - Mural: The Champion Of The Adversary Race
Upon entering the Air Forge, Raziel finds a mural.
Raziel V.O.:
These murals had suffered some damage. Once again I recognized the Vampires' hero. But this scene revealed something new... For here they had also depicted his destined adversary, now partially obscured, who seemed to bear a flaming sword.
Air Forge
Raziel finds the specter of the original Mind Guardian.
Mind Guardian:
In winning all, we lost all... In winning what we thought mattered, we lost what truly mattered... But for you, there is a chance...
Raziel:
What chance is that?
Mind Guardian:
The bliss of death. I offer it.
Raziel:
But I do not accept.
Raziel finds the specter of the original Dimension Guardian.
Dimension Guardian:
You too share the curse - submit and be released...
Raziel:
Never.
Raziel approaches the spirit vessel and imbues the wraith-blade with elemental Air.
Raziel V.O.:
As the Reaver absorbed the souls of the Mind and Dimension Guardians, it was imbued with the elemental power of Air with which their principals were aligned.
The Pillars (Continued)
Raziel activates the Air Reaver plinth/vent he found earlier beyond the Pillars.
Raziel V.O.:
With the Reaver endowed with the elemental power of Air, the way to Vorador's refuge lay open at last. If the old vampire still lived, he alone could tell me how to escape the terrible destiny charted for me when the Reaver was forged.
Raziel walks along the path to Vorador's Mansion.
Raziel V.O.:
Vorador's refuge was hidden deep within the black forest. I hoped to find him before Moebius's cutthroats did.
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