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The Pillars Of Nosgoth

Raziel reflects on the encounter with Kain.

Raziel V.O.:
I didn't know what impulse stayed my hand, why I had so willingly allowed Kain to escape me when I had pursued him for so long. I had no reason to trust Kain, after he had valued me so little, and yet, I found myself intrigued by his words.
I had been too cruelly used to so gullibly play his pawn, but if this world truly had secrets to divulge, I was determined to expose them.

Raziel follows the path beyond the Pillars. He takes note of the mysterious birds that he has been seeing since leaving the lake.

Raziel V.O.:
From the moment of my arrival I had the constant and palpable sensation of being watched.
Someone, it seemed, was keenly interested in my presence here.

Raziel uncovers an ancient sealed door bearing a strange but familiar image.

Raziel V.O.:
From the look of it, this door had been sealed for centuries.
I began to realise it was no mere coincidence that I found myself standing here beneath this winged figure with blue skin and cloven hands so like my own, and bearing this unique key.

Using the Soul Reaver, Raziel cautiously unlocks the door.

Raziel V.O.:
And so it was, with a sense of gravity and trepidation that I unsealed that ancient door and crossed the threshold.

Dark Chronicle - Chapter Five - The Elder God

Raziel cautiously descends an ancient subterranean passageway, and finds himself at the threshold of a magnificent underground grotto.
The Pillars descend into this chamber, intersecting a platform engraved with arcane symbols. Water surrounds the dais, and reflected light dapples the surrounding walls.
Raziel walks along the platform, surveying the murals on the surrounding walls. He recognizes his own ragged form in these heroic figures, and holds up his hand, mentally comparing his anatomy to theirs. He's trying to put the pieces together.

Raziel: V.O.:
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...

The voice of the Elder God bubbles up from the depths of the chamber, as if in answer to Raziel's unspoken question.

Elder God:
Lies, Raziel.

Raziel recognizes the voice and realizes that it's rising from the watery depths beneath the platform. As he steps to the edge, he sees that the Pillars descend into the murky depths of the chamber - and coiled around them are the tentacles and amorphous mass of the Elder God itself.

Elder God:
Do not be deceived.

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.
(threatening)
Do not fail me, my servant...

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

Elder God: (ominously)
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.

The Pillars Chamber

Raziel swims past the Elder God.

Elder God:
Do not fail me.
   or Your destiny beckons.
   or Destroy Kain.
   or You would be wise to heed me, Raziel.
   or Tread carefully, Raziel.

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