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Sarafan Stronghold (Second Visit Continued)

Moving on through the Stronghold, Raziel is stopped again by two women soldiers and an attack dog.

Woman Soldier:
Seize him!

Dark Chronicle - Chapter Nine - Time Streaming

Following the history-altering encounter with Kain in the chapel, Raziel returns to the Circle's gathering-room. Armed with the Light Reaver, he is now able to unlock the second Time Streaming chamber.
Just as the chamber's door slides open, Moebius rushes into the room, shaken and alarmed. He knows that Kain has survived what was supposed to be a fatal encounter with Raziel in the chapel, and that the course of history has therefore been changed.
Raziel greets Moebius smugly, realizing that he has the upper hand, and relishing it.

Raziel:
Ah, yes - I like that look on your face, Moebius. You really don't know what to do now, do you, old man?
Here you are - caught without your damned staff - and I suspect things aren't progressing quite as you'd hoped.
You're not used to the fly turning to confront you in your web, are you?

Genuinely shocked and distressed, Moebius struggles to regain control of the situation. He admonishes Raziel -

Moebius:
Kain's devious influence has poisoned your mind, Raziel.
Now you see betrayal everywhere, even in your closest allies.

Raziel:
We were never allies, Moebius.
Conspirators, perhaps. Briefly.

Moebius:
Why did you not kill Kain when you had the chance? He was at your mercy!

Raziel:
Precisely. I had a choice, and I chose mercy.
And now I know your sordid little secret - the significance of that displacement I felt when the two Reavers came together. Strangely enough, I was enlightened by the 'devious' Kain, not by you.
In fact, I've learned much more than you counted on - I understand now how you've tried to manipulate all of history for your own personal gain.
But now all your little schemes are whirling in ruin around you, aren't they?
All because I decided to exert my will for once, rather than obey the demands of sorcerers and spirits and demons all singing the same tiresome refrain: 'kill Kain!'
I am setting my own path from here, Moebius.
I intend to discover the truth behind all of this.

Moebius:
But you condemn us all with this impetuous act!

Raziel:
Hardly impetuous; it took all the will I could muster.
Has my refusal to kill Kain reshuffled your carefully stacked deck of cards?

Moebius responds angrily -

Moebius:
You really think that you're exercising your free will, Raziel?
You're simply Kain's servant -

Raziel: (steely)
I do not serve Kain. I merely did not kill him.

Desperate, Moebius implores Raziel -

Moebius:
Raziel, do not forget your purpose here - you are destined to be the savior of Nosgoth!

Raziel replies disdainfully -

Raziel:
Oh, I'm sick of hearing that particular phrase.
As for saving Nosgoth, so far I see precious little reason to bother.
And I'll choose my own 'purpose' from here on out, Time-Streamer. Right now, I choose to manipulate you, for a change.
Go - in there.

Raziel summons the wraith-blade and flourishes it at Moebius threateningly. Gesturing with the Reaver, Raziel directs Moebius toward the Time Streaming chamber.
Moebius refuses to move -

Moebius:
What are you doing?

Raziel:
Come now, Moebius - you're a cunning serpent... you'll piece it together, I imagine.

Raziel shoves Moebius and brandishes the Reaver to usher him into the chamber.

Raziel:
This era is of no further use to me. You will operate this device to provide me passage.
I want to see the world in a simpler time - before the Sarafan began their crusade.

Moebius obediently adjusts the device's arcane switches, but continues to entreat Raziel -

Moebius:
And what about Kain? You're leaving your quarry behind!

Raziel:
You kill him, if it's so damned important.

Moebius:
You need only touch the two poles of the switch, and the device will transport you.
But I urge you to reconsider -

Raziel places his hands on the poles of the time-streaming device.

Raziel:
You've lost your powers of persuasion, old man.
Rot here, and forget me.

Moebius turns away dejectedly, but once his face is averted he breaks into a cunning grin.
Raziel throws the switch, and the chamber blurs around him as he is swept to another time.

Sarafan Stronghold

Raziel leaves the Time Streaming Device.

Raziel V.O.:
Even as I emerged from that infernal Time Streaming chamber, I suspected treachery.
The Stronghold was vacant, derelict and abandoned...

Two green Acid Demons appear, creating a barrier and forcing Raziel to fight.

Acid Demon: (growling)
Raziel...

Raziel enters the main hall of the Stronghold, and notices a statue of the Time Guardian, Moebius. The inscription reads REQUIESCAT IN PACE, Latin for 'Rest in Peace'.

Raziel V.O.:
If I had any doubts about the era I now occupied, this grotesque tableau certainly eliminated them. For here was Moebius, long since murdered by Kain, lionised and beatified as the martyred leader of his bloodthirsty crusade. And if I required further evidence, I needed only to behold the gruesome trophy Moebius held aloft - the severed head of Vorador. The final triumphant kill of Moebius' cutthroat mob. His execution marked the annihilation of the vampires.
Far from channelling me into Nosgoth's past, Moebius had propelled me over a century into its ghastly future.
The intent behind this little detour was unmistakable.
Having failed to make me his obedient assassin, Moebius intended to keep me ignorant of my true destiny, which clearly lay in Nosgoth's past. While his deception only reinforced my purpose, Moebius had effectively stranded me here.
This left me no course but to explore the era I now occupied, and see what changes this century had wrought following Kain's ill-fated decision.
Perhaps time had cleared a path for me into the mountains where I might unearth more clues behind the mystery of Janos Audron.

Two grey Lightning Demons appear.

Lightning Demon: (growling)
Raziel...

Dark Chronicle - Chapter Ten - Moebius's Martyred Spirit

As Raziel exits the time-streaming chamber, he realizes that Moebius has deceived him. Rather than arriving in Nosgoth's past, he has been propelled into its ghastly future. The Stronghold is derelict, abandoned and overrun by demons.
As he departs, Raziel encounters the spectre of Moebius, dead now for a century following his murder at Kain's hands.
Moebius greets Raziel in an anguished, withered voice -

Moebius:
Raziel...

Raziel:
What pathetic charade is this now, Moebius?

Moebius:
No charade, Raziel. Only the entreaties of this martyred spirit.

Raziel:
Your pleas mean nothing to me, after all your deceit.
You have propelled me into Nosgoth's future, Moebius - and left me stranded here.

Moebius:
I am truly sorry, Raziel, but it was necessary. Consider it the last valiant act of a doomed man.
You have strayed from your purpose, and now behold the result - gaze upon the wasteland you and Kain authored together!

Raziel:
I fail to see how I'm responsible -

Moebius:
You spared Kain! And by doing so, you have released a multitude of horrors upon this world.
I can accept that Kain has murdered me, Raziel. As the Time Guardian, I foresaw that incident long before it occurred.
And I take some small comfort in the fact that Kain remains the sole survivor of his vile breed.
But you have single-handedly made my sacrifice meaningless.

Raziel:
Your argument is disingenuous, Time-Streamer.
I cannot see how killing or sparing Kain's future self would alter these events. This wasteland was created by Kain's original refusal at the Pillars - and amidst all these twists and turns, that event has never changed.
You are cunning, Moebius - but I think you've gotten tangled in your own web.

Moebius:
As Kain clings to his precious seat of power, the Pillars sink into a mire of decay, dragging all of Nosgoth down with them!

Raziel:
I don't think this has anything to do with the Pillars or Kain's failure to sacrifice himself.
I think you're simply afraid - because you don't know what he's up to.
He's a wild-card, isn't he, and you don't want his influence in your game.
Which is why you wanted me to eliminate him.
Now that he's survived, you have no idea what's coming, do you? Maybe for the first time in your entire life.
You're terrified that he may truly have found a third option out of the dilemma you orchestrated for him.

Moebius:
Kain's lies have addled your mind.
Leave this place, and trouble my spirit no more!

Incredulous, Raziel taunts Moebius -

Raziel:
If you even are a spirit. You've forgotten I have a way to tell for sure.

Raziel grabs his cowl as though prepared to devour Moebius's soul -

Raziel:
... if you're willing to risk it.

Moebius scowls at Raziel, and vanishes.

Raziel:
I didn't think so.
Either way, you lose.

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