The Heart of Darkness

Raziel (vo): So this was the legendary Janos Audron - reputed to have been the most ancient and diabolical vampire to have ever existed. According to folklore, he lived high in the cliffs of Nosgoth’s northern mountains, and preyed mercilessly on the defenseless villagers below.

His reign of terror ended when the Sarafan finally hunted him down and tore his throbbing heart from his still-living body. This relic came to be known as the “Heart of Darkness”, and was supposedly imbued with the power to restore vampiric unlife.

The Sarafan therefore guarded it carefully, lest the Heart fall into the hands of their enemies. But I wondered - could Janos Audron truly have been as monstrous as depicted here? Or was this merely artistic licence by the Sarafan, who sought to lionize themselves by demonizing their darkest enemy?

Raziel arrives at a circular chamber where the crypts of his Sárafan brothers and his own are located…

Strange how my history came full circle. This chapel, I realised, was a memorial to my former Sarafan brethren, and myself, all of us martyred here, and then so cruelly profaned by Kain when he imposed his gift on our noble corpses. For the first time I beheld the image of my Sarafan self, memorialised here among my fallen comrades.

It tortured me to see how noble and pure I had been, and what a vile phantasm I had become. And a profound sense of injury, of loss, and betrayal welled up in me, so overwhelming I could barely contain it. All I wanted at this moment was to find Kain and destroy him.

Raziel manages to access a balcony that overlooks the exterior of the fortress…

Raziel (vo): I emerged, and for the first time, beheld Nosgoth in its former glory. A land overflowed with abundant life and vitality, and I knew with certainty then that the world I had left behind was nothing more than the corpse of Nosgoth, a lifeless husk bled dry by the corruption of Kain’s parasitic empire.

This was the fragile world Kain sacrificed to preserve his own petty life and ambition, heedless of the profound cost. The sight only deepened my resolve. I sensed that the Pillars lay to the north-west, and if Kain truly waited to confront me there, I would not disappoint him.

After jumping from the balcony, Raziel encounters various things. If he tries to enter the Sanctuary of Light…

Raziel (vo): I did not yet possess the means to unlock this barrier, but this enigmatic symbol was clearly the key.

Raziel (vo): As I passed this arcane landmark, a wisp of the Reaver’s energy was drawn to the ring, illuminating it. This created a beacon of sorts in the Spirit World. If ever I found myself depleted in the Spectral Realm, and my soul tossed on the ethereal winds, these beacons would draw me back to safety and restore me.

Now outside the fortress…

Raziel (vo): These ancient obelisks were mysteriously attuned to my spiritual essence. By simply touching the symbol, I could safely preserve an imprint of my soul, and thus create a milestone to which I could return when weary, and from which I could resume my journey.

Before leaving the fortress behind, Raziel takes a look back…

Raziel (vo): When I had only just escaped the Stronghold, I sensed that in time my journey would return me full circle to this place. Infiltrating the fortress, however, would be no small feat, the balcony that had provided my escape was now well beyond my reach, leaving this massive gateway as the only means of entry.

The gates were sealed, but like the Time Streaming chamber I had seen earlier, their operation was undoubtedly linked to that odd crystal mounted above the entrance.

Along the way, Raziel finds the corpses of impaled vampires…

Raziel (vo): These vampires had nothing in common with the deranged jackals I left behind in Kain’s derelict empire. They seemed to retain much of their former humanity.

In this era, vampires were clearly not the uncontested predators we had been. These creatures were hunted mercilessly and oppressed, and while I still believed that vampirism was a plague, and had to be wiped out, there was nothing noble of righteous about this crusade.

This was simply ruthless persecution.