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Dark Chronicle - Chapter Eleven - Ariel's Lament

Stranded now in Nosgoth's nightmarish future, Raziel enters the ruined Pillars clearing and sees the devastation wrought by Kain's fateful decision a century ago. Toppled columns litter the clearing, their sheared-off stumps protruding crookedly, like broken teeth.
Raziel stands in stunned silence for a moment as he surveys this apocalyptic scene.

Raziel V.O.:
These were the Pillars so familiar to my blighted eyes.
But now that I had begun to learn their true significance, I regarded the Pillars' destruction with a new, enlightened sense of horror.
And I questioned now whether Kain's simple refusal - his mere ambition - could truly have caused such devastation.
I felt that some darker influence was at work here.

In the gloom, Raziel sees the spectre of Ariel drifting restlessly among the toppled Pillars.

Raziel: V.O.:
As I approached, I discerned the spirit of Ariel - bound here now for more than a century.

As Raziel approaches, he hears Ariel lamenting to herself, unaware of his presence.

Ariel:
Forever am I bound, hope abandoned, my spirit tethered to this place...
What destroyed the Circle could not touch me. For I was newly dead, and beyond harm's reach.
I alone was spared the descent into madness, and Kain alone was spared the pain of death.
When Nupraptor's poison seized Kain even in the safety of the womb, much more than just his destiny was lost. All of Nosgoth lost Balance.
Consider us now... both of us less than we once were.
I, pure but insubstantial; and Kain, terribly real, but corrupted.

Raziel interrupts Ariel's reverie, and she turns in alarm.

Raziel:
You imprisonment here has deranged you, spirit.
You fixate on Kain because you believe he is the tether that binds you here. But we both know he is not the author of your agony.
The Pillars were subverted by dark forces, invited by the Guardians themselves.
The more I learn of your Circle, the more I see a tangle of nested manipulations.

Ariel responds angrily -

Ariel:
Kain handed them their victory.
They sought to topple the Pillars, and he was their willing instrument.

Raziel interrupts, challenging her.

Raziel:
Or was he their unwilling pawn?
Would it blunt your wrath to know that Kain's dilemma was calculated to bring the Pillars down, regardless of the choice he made?
And that the devastation would have been even greater had he chosen the path you would prescribe for him?

Ariel:
You are a subtle, deceitful creature.
But your clever arguments do not absolve Kain.
He must die for the Pillars to be restored; there is no other way.

Raziel:
Then consider this more ominous possibility - what if Kain's death does not restore the Pillars?
Consider that it may simply be too late. That this world may be beyond redemption.
And that you may be bound here eternally.

Distraught, Ariel flees into the spirit realm, unaware that Raziel is able to follow. Raziel shifts into spectral and startles her as she cowers behind the Balance Pillar.
Cornered and miserable, Ariel implores Raziel -

Ariel:
Why do you hound me, demon?
You can see that I am captive here. Show me some mercy.

Raziel:
Like the mercy you showed your fellow Guardians when you set Kain on them?
Or the mercy you showed Kain when you kept him ignorant of his destiny while you used him as the scourge of the Circle?
Or perhaps like the mercy you showed your beloved Nupraptor when you made him Kain's first kill?

Ariel:
You are cruel. Why do you torment me?

Weary of this, Raziel relents -

Raziel:
I'm merely looking for answers, Ariel.
Very well - I'll leave you in peace.
But know this - about you, and this purgatory from which you long to escape...
... you're merely at the threshold.

Dark Chronicle - Chapter Twelve - Raziel Defies The Elder

Raziel revisits the subterranean Pillars grotto after having been propelled over a century into Nosgoth's ghastly future. He is shocked to discover how the Elder God has encroached into the chamber - its tentacles wind chokingly around the shattered Pillars, and the room's murals have been nearly obliterated by the passage of its grasping limbs.
The Elder God greets Raziel disdainfully -

Elder God:
Raziel, the failed assassin.
You had Kain at your mercy but lacked the courage to fulfill the act.
And now you see the wasteland wrought by the tyrant's hand. By his selfish decision to preserve his own life, even when it meant sacrificing the whole world.
This is the fate of Nosgoth, as long as Kain remains alive.

Raziel:
An ironic condemnation, given this guilty scene.
One would think you'd torn down the Pillars single-handedly.
What are you trying to obliterate as you drag your loathsome body through this chamber?
And why, as Nosgoth descends into madness and misery, do you appear to thrive?
Things in this world, I am learning, are rarely what they seem.
You, apparently, are no exception.

Elder God: (angrily)
I am the Engine of Life, the source of Nosgoth's very existence.
I am the hub of the Wheel, the origin of all Life, the devourer of Death.

Raziel:
... or maybe you're just hungry - could it be as simple as that?
Wouldn't that be poetic irony? The great adversary of the vampires turns out to be the biggest parasite of them all.

Elder God:
Do not test my patience, Raziel.
I made you, and I will unmake you if I become so inclined.

Raziel: (mocking)
As your agent, I am beyond death.

Elder God:
There are fates worse than death, Raziel.

Raziel responds with disgust -

Raziel:
Oh, I see you now as you truly are.
A cancer - a spooling parasite burrowed deep in the heart of this world.

Elder God: (ominously)
Go now.
Play out your pitiful rebellion, and take your place among the destroyed, the used and the damned.
But know this - you are mine for eternity.
You have always been, and will always be, my soul reaver...

The Pillars Chamber

Raziel swims past the Elder God.

Elder:
You are a puny creature, more fragile than you realize.
   or Your destiny beckons.
   or Abandon this traitorous course, Raziel.
   or You would be wise to heed me, Raziel.
   or Tread carefully, Raziel.

Termogent Forest Swamp

Raziel examines the seal of the abandoned Time Streaming Device.

Raziel V.O.:
Beyond this edifice lay my sole hope of escaping this demon-infested wasteland. The Time Streaming device contained therein offered my only prospect of journeying back into Nosgoth's early history.
Unless I discovered some means of breaking this seal, I was condemned to be stranded here eternally.

Raziel re-visits the formally unreachable entrance to the mountain path.

Raziel V.O.:
The passage of time had indeed cleared my way forward, enabling me to explore the northern mountains of Nosgoth. I was anxious to discover if some evidence of Janos Audron's existence might still remain.

Uschtenheim

Raziel arrives at a human township, very likely the one depicted earlier in the Stronghold's stained glass mural.

Raziel V.O.:
Here I discovered the quaint hamlet of Uschtenheim, now long abandoned and collapsing into ruin. Legend claimed that Janos Audron terrorised its villagers until the Sarafan hunters ferreted him out and destroyed him.
If there was any truth to the old tales, the lair of the infamous vampire would not be far away.

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