Turel

Turel in Soul Reaver

Vampire lieutenant Turel
Vampire lieutenant Turel

Turel first appeared in Soul Reaver. He was one of Kain's six vampire lieutenants, and therefore a member of the Council. He was the patriarch of the Turelim clan. In Soul Reaver 2, Raziel described Turel as "dutiful and righteous". Among the lieutenants, he was Raziel's second-in-command, and so the second-born of Kain's vampire 'sons'.[1,2,3]

Turel was seen standing in the Sanctuary of the Clans at the start of Soul Reaver's opening FMV (Full Motion Video). He looked strongly-built, and his black hair was slicked back and pulled into a long, low ponytail. His shoulder cape was dark green, and he stood to the left of Kain's throne - in the position furthest away - next to Zephon.

Raziel arrived at the the Sanctuary of the Clans, and presented his newly-grown wings to Kain and his fellow lieutenants. Kain ripped the bones from Raziel's wings, and ordered Raziel's execution. It was Turel (along with Dumah) who carried Raziel to the Abyss and threw him in on Kain's command. Following Raziel's execution, Turel replaced him as Kain's second-in-command.[3,4]

When Raziel returned from the Abyss, he found that "centuries had apparently passed". He hunted all of the lieutenants - his former brethren - to avenge himself. They had all abandoned him to Kain's unjust will, and none had protested against the irrational execution sentence. It seemed that Raziel deemed Dumah and Turel especially guilty for their active involvement. Exploring the Tomb of the Sarafan, Raziel was shocked to learn of their shared heritage as Sarafan warriors, but the revelation did not blunt his need for retribution.[5,6,7]

Raziel successfully destroyed Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab and Dumah, but Turel was nowhere to be found. Raziel arrived at the Chronoplast in pursuit of Kain before trying to find Turel, and allowed Kain to lure him into Nosgoth's history. It seemed Turel was left behind, safe and well in the corrupted present.

Turel in Soul Reaver 2

The mural of Sarafan Turel
The mural of Sarafan Turel
Sarafan Turel
Sarafan Turel

In Soul Reaver 2, Raziel saw the mural commemorating the human Turel's martyrdom in the Sarafan Stronghold.[8]

When Raziel travelled back in time to meet Janos Audron, five centuries before the events of Blood Omen, he encountered the living Turel. Turel was one of the five Sarafan who broke into Janos' Retreat, murdered him and stole the Reaver. Turel carried Moebius' Staff, and used it to incapacitate Janos while the Sarafan Raziel cut Janos open and pulled out the Heart of Darkness.[9]

Raziel followed the Sarafan to the Sarafan Stronghold to avenge Janos' death and reclaim the Heart of Darkness. Motivated by grief, anger and self-loathing, he killed them all with the Reaver (which he had found in the stronghold). Turel was armed with a polearm, and fought alone in the gated area of the main hall (which would later contain the mural showing the Sarafan's victory over Janos).

Confronting Turel, Raziel noted that: "The vampire Turel had eluded [his] vengeance; the Sarafan Turel would not". Raziel killed Turel, and he was buried in the Tomb of the Sarafan. Approximately a thousand years later, Turel was resurrected by Kain as a vampire.[3,10,11]

Turel in Defiance

In Defiance, in the Blood Omen era, Raziel encountered the evolved vampire Turel at last. In the depths of the Avernus Catacombs, he stumbled upon a strange ceremony. Masked humans, led by Mortanius, were engaged in ritual worship of the god Hash'ak'gik. From the edges of a huge pit, the faithful Cenobites praised Hash'ak'gik, offering blood sacrifices to appease him and avert his wrath from them.[12]

The physical form of Hash'ak'gik - the evolved vampire Turel
The physical form of Hash'ak'gik - the evolved vampire Turel

When the Necromancer finally dismissed the gathering, Raziel drew near, curious. He was not cautious enough, and the 'god' made a surprise telekinetic attack. Raziel fell into the pit, and met Hash'ak'gik face to face.[12,13]

The creature in the pit was huge, and vaguely bat-like - although wingless - in appearance. It walked on all fours, and had large ears. He first recognized Raziel by smell, then by his voice. He referred to Raziel's execution in the Abyss, and commented on the fate of Kain's other lieutenants; he had heard what Raziel did to them. Raziel suddenly realized that this monster was in fact Turel, devolved and hideous as all his brethren had been in Soul Reaver.[13]

Hash'ak'gik - the evolved vampire Turel
Hash'ak'gik - the evolved vampire Turel

The second-born claimed he had been 'summoned', experiencing darkness and great hunger before being 'found'. He was trapped in the pit and tormented by a number of Hylden. They regularly possessed him and used his voice to command their human followers.

Through Turel, the Hylden told Raziel that he must prevail against the Ancient Vampires' champion. Whether they were referring to the Vampire Hero (who Raziel thought was Kain), or the Scion of Balance (actually Kain) is unclear, but it amounted to the same thing: they were encouraging a fight between Kain and Raziel.[13]

Turel shook off their influence with some effort. He needed blood to strengthen himself against them, and he expected that Raziel's would be sufficient; presumably he didn't understand what Raziel had become. Turel attacked Raziel with powerful telekinetic assaults and charged at him whenever possible. With his large ears, Turel's hearing was very sensitive. Raziel used the gongs placed around the pit to incapacitate Turel with sound, making him vulnerable to attack. When Turel died, Raziel gained enhanced telekinetic ability from his unfettered soul.[13]

Further Observations

Turel, in his devolved/evolved form, was partially sighted; this is confirmed by Prima's Official Defiance Strategy Guide. He didn't really see Raziel; rather, he determined his identity and position using his other senses. This type of trade-off - one sense weakened (sight) in preference of another (hearing) - had a precedent in Rahab, who lost his resistance to sunlight in Soul Reaver.[14]

According to the first Defiance Q&A page external link at The Lost Worlds, Azimuth and Mortanius served the Hylden (implied plural), who they knew as Hash'ak'gik. The Defiance team FAQ external link at the Eidos Forums explains that, at some point, Azimuth used the Time Streaming Device she stole from Moebius to bring Turel back in time from the Soul Reaver era into the Blood Omen era. He was presumbly chosen to be the host for Hash'ak'gik for two reasons. Firstly, his imposing physical appearance would impress the Cenobites, and secondly, as he was an immortal vampire, he was 'an incorruptible vessel': a host who wouldn't be 'used up', or transformed by aggressive Hylden possession. Turel may have embraced the name Hash'ak'gik as his own, and liked to think of himself as a god (greater than Kain), but he was only a mouthpiece for the Hylden that controlled him.[13,15,16]

The evolved vampire Turel was originally going to appear in Soul Reaver with the rest of Raziel's brothers, but the encounter never made it into the released game. Some of his dialogue was instead spoken by the Tomb Guardian. The first Defiance Q&A page external link at The Lost Worlds says that the decision to cast Turel as the blood-hungry physical form of Hash'ak'gik happened shortly after he was cut from Soul Reaver.[17,15]

A highly-detailed image of Turel (as he appeared in Soul Reaver's opening FMV) is available on Boyd Lake's website external link.[18]

References

  1. The Background Story, as given in the Soul Reaver Game Manual (UK and US versions)
  2. The Soul Reaver Game Manual (UK and US versions)
  3. The Soul Reaver 2 Dark Chronicle (Chapter 18 - Vengeance)
  4. The Soul Reaver Game Manual (UK version)
  5. [SR1] The Elder God to Raziel: "Redeem yourself. Or if you prefer, avenge yourself. Settle your dispute with Kain. Destroy Him and your brethren. Free their souls and let the wheel of fate churn again. Use your hatred to reave their souls... I can make it possible. Become my Soul Reaver, my angel of death..."
  6. [SR1] Raziel: "In the instant between my execution and resurrection, centuries had apparently passed..."
  7. [SR1] Raziel (referring to the caskets in the Tomb of the Sarafan): "These crypts... defiled caskets of Sarafan saints... bearing my brothers' names... And my own..."
  8. [SR2] Raziel: "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."
  9. [SR2] Vorador to Raziel: "Janos Audron - the Reaver Guardian, the last of the Ancients, and my maker - was murdered by the Sarafan nearly five centuries ago."
  10. [SR2] Raziel: "I would pursue the Sarafan dogs to their loathsome fortress, and avenge Janos Audron's murder.
    Moebius would pay dearly for his treachery, and my Sarafan brethren would reap the horrors they had sown.
    I would retake the stolen Reaver, which was rightfully mine.
    And finally, when all these debts had been paid, I would reclaim Janos Audron's heart from their filthy, unworthy hands."
  11. [SR2] Raziel (referring to the Sarafan Dumah and Rahab): "For it was I who put these bastards in their tomb, thus providing the corpses for Kain to raise as his vampire sons a millennium from now."
  12. The Defiance Script (Dialogue) (Dark Chronicle - Dark Rites In The Avernus Catacombs)
  13. The Defiance Script (Dialogue) (Dark Chronicle - Reunion)
  14. Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide (ISBN 0761544674)
  15. The first Defiance Q&A page external link at The Lost Worlds
  16. The Defiance team FAQ external link at the Eidos Forums
  17. The Soul Reaver: Turel page external link at The Lost Worlds
  18. Boyd Lake's website external link

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