The Vampire Vorador

Swimming through the underground tunnel, Raziel arrives at a gloomy swamp…

Raziel (vo): I surfaced into a very different landscape. The daylight barely penetrated the dense canopy of this forest. Here I discovered an ancient ruin, unmistakably one of Moebius’ Time Streaming chambers, but long ago sealed and abandoned to the encroaching swamp.

I didn’t currently possess the means to break this seal, but I thought in time that I might.

Raziel realizes who has been watching him…

Raziel (vo): So, my lurking observer was exposed. The creature vanished when he realised he was discovered, but I caught a glimpse of him, and his features were distinctive enough. This was the vampire Vorador, the monstrous assassin depicted in the Stronghold.

Strange that a creature brazen enough to assault the Circle single-handedly would avoid confronting me. Very well, if Vorador would not come to me, I would go to him. But first I needed to find some means of reaching that terrace.

Entering the swamp, Raziel discovers a path to the northern lands…

Raziel (vo): There appeared to be a passage here, leading northward into the mountains. The opening, however, was obstructed and too high for me to reach. Perhaps later I would find the means to bypass these obstacles.

Raziel arrives at the balcony where he saw Vorador, but observes that it is empty. However, an old building catches his attention…

Raziel (vo): My lurking friend was nowhere to be seen, but I found these ruins even more intriguing. I recognised these arcane symbols from the chamber beneath the Pillars, and realised that this shrine too was sealed to all but the bearer of the Reaver.

Inside the building, Raziel contemplates the images that decorate the walls…

Raziel (vo): Throughout this ancient shrine, murals depicted the winged race, the apocalyptic war against their mysterious and equally inhuman adversaries.

These winged beings, it seemed, were not only the architects of the Pillars, but of this enigmatic place as well, and just as in the Pillars’ chamber, this shrine was adorned throughout with imagery of the Reaver, depicted with the reverence of a holy icon.

Raziel manages to activate the Forge of Darkness…

Raziel (vo): As I neared the altar, I suddenly felt the Reaver quickening of its own volition, just as in William’s chapel. The balance of power tangibly shifted.

Voracious and wilful, the Soul Reaver was now in control, and I, merely its helpless puppet. The Reaver plunged itself into that mysterious altar, and devouring the energy that emanated from within, drained this place of its power.

Thus sated, the Reaver released me, and I realised as I recovered control, that these ancient shrines were forges, each purpose-built to enhance the Reaver with elemental power.

Exiting to the courtyard of the sanctuary, Raziel directs his gaze toward an elemental pile…

Raziel (vo): Now I understood the purpose of the mysterious basins I had seen throughout my journey. They were elemental fonts, each attuned to a fundamental essence.

When I forged the blade, every font in Nosgoth with the same elemental attunement would simultaneously quicken. The Reaver’s enhancements were never permanent, but these fonts enabled me to re-imbue the blade by bathing it in the elemental energy distilled therein.

The door leading to the exit catches Raziel’s attention…

Raziel (vo): Concentric circles, one eclipsing the other. I recognised this symbol from the door sealing that other ancient shrine, the one I had seen in the lake outside the Sarafan Stronghold. Perhaps now, armed as I was with the elemental power of darkness, I could return and gain entry.

Leaving the sanctuary, Raziel finds the vampire Vorador…

Vorador: You’re a ragged excuse for a savior.

Raziel: Vorador.

Vorador: I see my reputation precedes me.

Raziel: It does.

Vorador: All good, I hope.

I’ve been watching you since you emerged from that accursed stronghold. Strange that your arrival coincides with the corruption of the Pillars. But I’m wondering - are you the catalyst of these events, or the answer to them?

Raziel: I don’t know what you mean.

Vorador: I will speak plainly, then. I distrust your origins, stranger. Seeing you crawl from the putrid depths of Moebius’s Keep makes me question your purpose here.

And what should I make of your appearance? Not human, clearly - and more demon than vampire. And the Pillars - it is no mere coincidence that your arrival in that clearing heralded the Pillars’ decay. And so I ask you plainly: are you the instrument of the Pillars’ destruction, or their salvation?

Raziel: Neither.

Vorador: Very well, let us look at the other side of the coin -

I have followed your journey, and watched as you blithely unlocked secrets that have been sealed and forbidden for thousands of years. The path you have been treading is open to only one being… You don’t know what you are, do you?

Raziel: I have been many things… If you find me ignorant, enlighten me.

Vorador: What’s the point - this world is beyond redemption. Let the human cattle have it.

Raziel: I would expect better that meek capitulation from you.

Vorador: Centuries of persecution have taught me well.

Five hundred years ago, our race was almost exterminated by the fanatical crusades of the Sarafan. And now the same sick drama unfolds again. In merely a decade, Moebius’s cutthroat citizen army has nearly accomplished what the Sarafan could not.

Vampires meddling in the affairs of men… Look where it has brought us.

Raziel: What am I to make of these secrets I’ve uncovered, then? The depictions of the winged race, the Pillars, and the Reaver?

Vorador: Fairy tales, boy. The delusions of an ancient culture, clinging to hope long after the world had discarded them. Their bloodline trickled away, until only one of the Ancients remained - sustained solely by obligation and his unfaltering faith in the old prophesies.

But you see, even if you are who you appear to be, it no longer matters… You’re simply too late. Janos Audron - the Reaver Guardian, the last of the Ancients, and my maker - was murdered by the Sarafan nearly five centuries ago. He alone would have the answers you seek, but his secrets died with him.

I don’t know how you’ve come even this far without his guidance - or without the Reaver, stolen these five hundred years ago by the Sarafan. I am afraid, my friend, that you - and all of us - are out of luck.

Vorador vanishes, leaving Raziel alone once more…

Raziel (vo): I had no less reason to trust Vorador than anyone else I had met. In fact, the ancient vampire was the most forthright being I had encountered thus far.

If Janos Audron was the key to all this, then I would find him, and Moebius’ Time Streaming device would provide me passage. But first I had to find a way back into the Stronghold, and I suspected I would find the means within the lake’s mysterious shrine.