The Elder God

Raziel (vo): As I entered the chamber, I sensed that it had been sealed for hundreds - perhaps thousands - of years. And while this room was clearly built when the Pillars were erected, I knew that no human hand could have shaped this place - and that perhaps it had never been seen by human eyes.

The surrounding murals depicted a winged race, their features so like my own - but beautiful, where mine were grotesque… and angelic, while mine were demonic.

I tried to decipher these images … a great war, but with combatants like none I had ever seen… the Pillars, raised by this winged race, who thus defeated their adversaries… the winged beings again, writhing in agony, apparently afflicted with the same blood-thirst I had so recently suffered…

And throughout the chamber, inscribed everywhere, images of the Reaver itself. Was this what Kain had urged me to discover? I wondered…

Elder god: ¡Lies. Do not be deceived.

Upon hearing the ancient god, Raziel directs his gaze to the bottom of the pit that surrounds the central platform of the room…

Raziel: Ah, my ancient ‘benefactor’… And I dared to hope we had parted ways forever. Your silence was refreshing, while it lasted. No doubt you have a conveniently inexpressible reason for your presence here?

Elder god: Do not be insolent, Raziel. I am eternally present - here and everywhere, now and always. I am the still center of the turning wheel, the hub of this world’s destiny.

Raziel: But perhaps not so omnipotent as you’d have me believe. Your hold on me appears to be tenuous. I no longer seem to need you, yet I’m guessing you still need me.

Elder god: This impudence is unworthy of you, Raziel. Do not forget that you have a task to fulfill here. You are indebted to me.

Raziel: Indebted? You would have me show gratitude for a ‘gift’ I didn’t ask to be bestowed? Do you forget that you forced me to inhabit this vile carcass -

Elder god: I restored you to yourself, Raziel. It was Kain who destroyed you. The very enemy you have just let slip through your grasp. Do not fail me, my servant…

Raziel: I serve no one - not you, not Kain… and not your lackey Moebius.

Elder god: Moebius is my good servant. I have many.

Raziel: And if I tell Moebius that he’s worshipping a giant squid, do you think his faith will falter?

Elder god: You have grown willful, Raziel. But beware - to embrace a serpent is to invite poison into your heart. Kain is a sinuous beast; he will seduce and deceive you. You pride yourself on your free will, yet you let that degenerate deter your resolve.

Raziel: I harbor no illusions about his integrity, nor anyone else’s. In fact, I am beset by manipulation on all sides. I merely seek the truth.

Elder god: These are the fathomless truths, Raziel: The agony of birth and death and rebirth - this is the Wheel of Fate, the purifying cycle which sustains all life.

Vampires are an abomination, a plague which leeches this land of its spiritual strength. They obstruct the flow of life and death - their souls stagnate in their wretched corpses.

But the wheel must turn; death is inexorable and cannot be denied. Your destiny is irresistible, Raziel - you are my soul reaver, the scourge of the vampires, reaper of their apostate souls. Remain steadfast. End the vampires’ parasitic curse, and restore Nosgoth. Kain’s blood belongs on you hands.

Raziel: Kain indeed deserves to die, for condemning me to this repugnant form. But if and when I kill him, it will be for me, alone, to decide.

Elder god: Kain destroyed you without a flicker of remorse. He tore the soul from your noble corpse, and after you had served him faithfully for a thousand years, he discarded you in the Abyss on a jealous whim. Remember your rage, Raziel - let it guide your hand.

Elder god: Do not fail me.

Your destiny beckons.

Destroy Kain.

You would be wise to heed me, Raziel.

Tread carefully, Raziel.