Control Mind Dungeon

The Control Mind dungeon, also known as the Control Mind Keep or Mind Control Dungeon, was a 'dungeon' area in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain that housed the Control Mind spell. Positioned in central Nosgoth in the western area of the Termogent Forest, the structure was visited by Kain in the chapter Vorador's Mansion.

Role
The Control Mind Keep was a stone tower which was encountered by Kain in the Blood Omen era of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Shortly after meeting with 'The Oracle' in the Oracle's Cave in the chapter Find the Oracle, Kain travelled southward to the Termogent Forest in the Vorador's Mansion chapter, intending to infiltrate Vorador's Mansion and confer with the elder vampire. On his way south he crossed into the western area of the Termogent Forest and found the Control Mind Keep in the east of the area among a number of other ruined buildings.

Entering the keep, Kain progressed through to an open area flanked by balconies populated by enemies where he was able to collect the Control Mind item card and use it control the enemy characters into opening the exit and allowing his escape and return to the swamp.

Kain could also explore the nearby Flame Sword dungeon and Blood Gout dungeon before progressing to the eastern end of the forest and entering Vorador's Mansion.

Design and Layout


The external appearance of the Control Mind dungeon consisted of a rectangular keep in the middle-east of the western Termogent Forest area. The design of the building was reminiscent of the other buildings in the western Termogent Forest, such as the Blood Gout dungeon and the Flame Sword dungeon, consisting of a dark grey ramparted building complete with crenelation and a flat roof, evocative of a medieval castle-like structure. Unlike its counterparts however, the Control Mind keep was not in a ruined state and seemed largely intact. A tree blocked the doorway in the center of the ground level and three arrowslits could be observed mid way up the building, along with a trapdoor on the western side of the roof.

The internal area of the keep shared many design features with the other keeps of the western Termogent Forest, with distinctive maroon colored brickwork, marbled red doorways and weapons hanging from the walls. The keep was divided into four map areas:


 * The first area consisted of two square rooms side-by-side, with the entry door on the south wall of the eastern room. This room contained a floor mural depicting the Control Mind spell card, was decorated with various weapons on the walls along with a barrel of assorted weaponry and had doors in the eastern and northern walls. The eastern door led through to a similar square room containing a save altar, while the northern door led into the next area of the keep.
 * The next area consisted of a large open room with stepped, tiered balconies on the east west and north sides of the room and a green magic sphere in the center and with both the east and west balconies protected by various enemies and spike pits. At the back of the room an open door led to the third map area and a staircase in the northwest led upto the next tier, where a table covered in entrails was positioned, flanked by another balcony in east containing a wall button and a Red man-at-arms pacing atop a blood rune. A further staircase north led to the the top tier where the Control Mind spell card was positioned on the back wall on top of a Blood rune - along with an invisible secret door leading to the fourth map area.
 * This area is the only one of the following rooms that is strictly necessary to enter to complete the keep and it is not even necessary to enter most of the rooms in this area. The other rooms and areas relate purely to Secrets. The keep can be completed simply by entering this area, progressing to the back of this room to gain the Control Mind card, using it to possess the enemy on the balcony to the right of the card and using him to trigger the nearby switch which opened the exit door, allowing Kain to return outside.
 * The Western balcony rooms all related to a Secret (#28): Initially two tiers of the balcony were visible, both with a line of Spike pits dividing access from the main room. The higher contained a Red skeleton swordsman and a rune triangle (the secret), with the line of spike pits also dividing access from the lower tier. The lower area contained three Red men-at-arms with a suit of armor on the back wall with a door to the west that could be accessed by using Control Mind on the men-at-arms. The room beyond was decorated with shields and a mace on the wall and featured a narrow trail weaving between Spike pits, with four green Spiked balls acting as obstacles. At the end of the trail in the northwest of the room was a green magic sphere and a wall button which lowered the staircase to the upper tier balcony and the secret.
 * The Eastern balcony rooms all related to a Secret (#31): Initially two tiers of the balcony were visible, both with a line of Spike pits dividing access from the main room. The higher contained a Red skeleton swordsman and a blood vial (the secret), with the line of spike pits also dividing access from the lower tier. The lower area contained three Blue peasant swordsmen with a suit of armor on the back wall with a door to the east that could be accessed by using Control Mind on the swordsmen. The room beyond was decorated with a mace and an axe on the wall, with a barrel of weaponry nearby the entrance. A staggered spike pit was placed in the center of the room, with a paving trail leading around the outside of the room passing a red skeleton swordsman in the east and returning to a small platform in the northwest of the room which contained a blood beaker and a wall button which lowered the staircase to the upper tier balcony and the secret.
 * The open doorway at the bottom of the lower level in the north led to the third map area and by using the Control Mind spell on the upper right (blood symbol) balcony man at arms to activate that switch a second time a secret door would open at the north above the top tier where the Control Mind card was placed - this led into the fourth map area.
 * The third map area rooms all related to a Secret (#87): Initially only a small lower area was accessible, with an empty balcony to the north along with a locked door and another to the west where two Expert knife throwers were positioned behind a thin line of Spike pits along with a wall button. Possessing on of them and using them to activate the switch lowered a staircase from the northern balcony and opened the door allowing Kain to progress to the next room, which led into the western fork of a 'T' shaped junction with a balcony and line of spike pits to the east just beyond the junction. The southern fork led down into a 'L' shaped corridor, with four Shooters (two either side) and an expert knife thrower as hazards. At the bottom of the corridor was an orange magic sphere and a switch which lowered a spike pit on the upper level behind the balcony, releasing another expert knife thrower who could be possessed from below. The upper level area above the balcony consisted of a small rectangular area with a thin line of spike pits to the south which trapped an expert knife thrower - this was lowered and the knife thrower was released when Kain activated the lower-level switch, allowing him to possess the knife thrower. A narrow corridor extended north from the rectangular room and passed a spinning blade before opening out into a small bare room containing the secret - a single Heart of darkness artifact.
 * The fourth map area rooms related to two Secrets (#29 and #30) which both led to 'backdoor' entrances to Spirit forges: The area initially opened into a small room with a green magic sphere in the center and a sinlge line of spike pits at the back flanked by two decorative wepons on the walls and two barrels of weaponry, surrounded on the west, north and east by balconies, each protected by a single line of spike pits. An expert knife thrower and a red man-at-arms patrolled each side of the balconies and each balcony led upto a door in the north of their respective areas. A narrow strip ran between the balconies, along the north of the room, decorated with two shields on the walls. In the center of this balcony was an alcove protected by a row of spikes which contained a teleporter and a wall button. The northern doors in the side balconies could be accessed by possessin their respective enemies and each led up to an inverted 'L' shape room, populated with enemies and hazards - with the eastern room containing two Skeletons and a number of decorative axes, while the western room contained a number of spike pits, forcing a weaving trail between them and two Shooters positioned at each end of the room and a locked door at the far northern end. At the end of each 'L' corridor was a switch which counted for a secret (#29 for the east and #30 for the west) and when both were activated a stairway lowered in the bottom room, allowing Kain to ascend to the top level. The first teleporter in the alcove on the northern bacony could be accessed by jumping over the spikes using Wolf Form and it acted as a 'backdoor' to the Anti-toxin Spirit forge in the cave next to the Flame Sword dungeon in the northern Termogent Forest. Alternatively the switch behind the first teleporter could be activated with an Energy Bolt and this opened the locked door in the back of the western 'L' corridor which led to a square room and a telporter surrounded by spikes. Again these could be breached using Wolf form, with the teleporter acting as the 'backdoor' to the Energy Bank Spirit Forge in the crack in the Southwestern Termogent Forest.