The Air Forge (chapter)

Chapter 6: The Air Forge is the sixth "level", or chapter, of Soul Reaver 2. It follows Raziel as he investigates the Air Forge and imbues the Air Reaver.

Plot
Upon entering the Air forge, Raziel observed murals depicting the infliction of the Blood curse on the Ancient vampires by the Hylden in the era Before Nosgoth's recorded history - finally unambiguously revealing to Raziel that the architects of the Pillars were indeed Nosgoth's first Vampires. Progressing further into the forge Raziel was able to reach the main 'core' chamber of the forge - a large circular room with an apparently open roof to the night sky, two large panther-like animal heads and a deep circular pit with a large open-mouthed snake at its center. The core pit had three openings half-way down and at the bottom of the core three color-coded passages led to three largely identical chambers, each containing a large colored stone head and a sacrificial altar with a mummy tied to it missing a heart.

The main objective of the Air forge was to return the Red heart, Blue heart and Green heart to their respective sacrificial mummy. This was achieved in several stages, with Raziel using the Wraith Blade, Light Reaver and Dark Reaver to unlock Sealed doors and paths to puzzle rooms which each eventually led up to a chamber where Raziel could recover the appropriate heart. When each heart was returned, the mummy was restored and the stone head briefly became animate, consuming the soul of the mummy and exhaling an updraft of Air which powered the forge and allowed Raziel to glide up to the top of the core. At the top of the forge, Raziel could use Light and Dark Reaver bolts on the respective symbols in the open mouths of the panthers, activating the main forge altar in the mouth of the snake. Imbuing the Wraith Blade with the elemental Air therein created the Air Reaver and activating all Air-affiliated Reaver fonts. As Raziel left the forge he discovered that Reaver bolts from the Air Reaver could destroy cracked barriers and he was ultimately able to use this ability to breach the cracked door of the time streaming chamber in the Swamp and use it to reach Nosgoth's early history.

The Air Forge (SR2)
After entering the initial chamber of the Air Forge, Raziel could proceed further into the room, triggering an explanation of the murals in the chamber. From here, he could ascend the staircases in the eastern corners of the room to reach two Shade protected Light Reaver fonts on the raised eastern balcony. Defeating the shades and imbuing the Light Reaver, Raziel could proceed across the second tier to a light symbol on the floor of the platform. Standing upon this symbol and firing a Light Reaver bolt at the light symbol marked sundial construction at the end of the platform would cause light to be projected onto the door on the western balcony, causing it to dissolve into a permeable barrier. Jumping across to the western balcony, Raziel could then shift into the Spectral Realm and phase through the barrier, entering the corridor beyond. Defeating the Sluagh and Greater Sluagh in the corridor, Raziel could proceed north to a Planar portal where he could shift back into the Material Realm and a checkpoint. Upon returning to the Material Realm, he could follow the corridor as it turned west, where he would be confronted by two combat barrier summoning Lightning demons. Once these were defeated, Raziel could proceed west to a small square chamber at the end of the corridor where Raziel would be confronted by two Sorcerer thralls and an Emblem key-bearing Greater thrall. Once the Greater thrall was defeated, the other thrall would retreat and Raziel could recover the Emblem key - using it on the nearby Air emblem door, Raziel could unlock his passage into the main chamber of the forge.

Passing a checkpoint as he entered the chamber, Raziel could proceed into the bottom of the core area where he could follow any of the curving hallways down to the heart altars beneath. Returning to the bottom of the core, Raziel could choose from three routes to complete and activate the forge:
 * Climbing the Reaver-marked wall, Raziel would be confronted by a Shade in front of a sealed door. Defeating the shade and returning power to the door, Raziel could use the Material Reaver to open the door and proceed into the chamber beyond, where he was confronted by two Swordsmen thralls and a Greater thrall carrying an emblem key. Defeating the thralls, (or just the Greater thrall and causing the others to retreat) Raziel could recover the emblem key and use it in the opposite doorway to open his passage to the next puzzle chamber. Defeating or ignoring the Greater thralls in the chamber, Raziel could reach a pillar marked with the Shift Glyph on the right wall and by Shifting into the Spectral Realm, Raziel could crouch-jump onto the shift block which enabled him to reach the right balcony and a planar portal in front of a stone head, where he could shift back into the Material Realm. Defeating the Shade and imbuing the Dark Reaver at the nearby Reaver fonts, it was necessary for Raziel to activate the large stone head on the balcony, altering the direction of the Air flow across the room - by Gliding on the gust created, Raziel could be blown across to the opposite balcony. Following the route up the staircase Raziel could reach and blind a Sentry eye, allowing him to continue around to a Darkness symbol, which spawned a shadow bridge to the final heart room, on a long timer. Instead of proceeding directly to the chamber, it was necessary for Raziel to jump down to the left balcony again and follow it to the Light Reaver font, where he could defeat a shade to imbue the Light Reaver. Activating the stone heads, Raziel could once again change the air flow, allowing him to glide across to the right balcony. Following the route up the staircase, Raziel could open a Light sealed door, allowing him to reach and proceed across the shadow bridge armed with the Light Reaver. Activating the Light crystal within the darkened room lit the chamber and spawned the Blue heart. Returning the Blue heart to the blue heart altar in the main core chamber, Raziel was able to activate part of the forge and provide an Air updraft. SR2-AirForge-Air11-ReaverRoom2-Material.PNG


 * Defeating a shade to imbue the Dark Reaver from the font at the bottom of the core and Climbing the Darkness symbol marked wall, Raziel would be confronted by a Shade in front of a sealed door. Defeating the shade and returning power to the door, Raziel could use the Dark Reaver to open the door and proceed into the chamber beyond, where he was confronted by three Greater thralls, one carrying an emblem key. Defeating the thralls, (or just the emblem carrying Greater thrall and causing the others to retreat) Raziel could recover the emblem key and use it in the opposite doorway to open his passage to the next puzzle chamber. Defeating or ignoring the Greater thralls in the chamber, Raziel could pass through the archway ahead, activating the Sentry eye atop it, and passing into another chamber where he would be confronted by two Greater thralls. After defeating these enemies, Raziel could proceed up to an alcove on the right wall containing a Dark font if necessary, otherwise he could proceed to the opposite alcove where a Darkness symbol allowed a shadow bridge to be activated on a short timer. Quickly crossing this bridge, Raziel could reach and pull out a block embedded in the right wall, dropping it to floor level. Re-positioning the block to the far end of the chamber underneath a Darkness sealed barrier, Raziel could climb the block and unlock the sealed barrier, opening up a small room containing a Light Reaver font. Firing a Dark Reaver bolt to blind the sentry eye before imbuing the Light Reaver, Raziel was able to return to the start of the chamber and crouch-jump up the side platform to reach the top of the archway. From here, Raziel was able to use the Air gust from the nearby head to glide across to the small heart room armed with the Light Reaver. Activating the Light crystal within the darkened room lit the chamber and spawned the Red heart. Returning the Red heart to the red heart altar in the main core chamber, Raziel was able to activate part of the forge and provide another Air updraft.

With all three hearts returned and their Air updrafts activated, Raziel was able to glide back up to the top of the core chamber, where the two dominating panther statue heads had become active. Imbuing the Light Reaver from the font at the bottom of the pit (if necessary), Raziel could fire a Light Reaver bolt at the Light symbol in the southwest panther's mouth, causing it to issue another air gust. Repeating this process on the other head, by imbuing the Dark Reaver from the fonts in the pit and firing a Dark Reaver bolt at the Dark symbol within the mouth of the northwest panther's mouth, caused it to issue another air gust - covering the central altar in the mouth of the snake with Air gusts and ultimately activating the Air Forge. Jumping to the mouth of the snake, Raziel could use the elemental Air to imbue a new Wraith Blade enhancement:
 * Defeating a shade to imbue the Light Reaver from the font at the bottom of the core and Climbing the Light symbol marked wall, Raziel would be confronted by a Shade in front of a sealed door. Defeating the shade and returning power to the door, Raziel could use the Light Reaver to open the door and proceed into the chamber beyond, where he was confronted by two Greater thralls, one carrying an emblem key. Defeating the thralls, (or just the emblem carrying Greater thrall and causing the other to retreat) Raziel could recover the emblem key and use it in the opposite doorway to open his passage to the next puzzle chamber. Crouch-jumping up the far (southern) wall and Shifting into the Spectral Realm, Raziel was able avoid the bolts fired by the Sorcerer thralls and negate the effects of the headwind blown from a wall-mounted face, allowing him to glide across to the opposite balcony. Using the planar portal here to return to the Material Realm, Raziel could defeat the Sorcerer thralls present and then defeat a Shade to imbue the Dark Reaver from a nearby Reaver font. Gliding back across the chasm using the headwind, Raziel could activate the Darkness symbol, providing a shadow bridge back across the chasm on a short timer. Quickly defeating a shade and imbuing the Light Reaver at a nearby Reaver font, Raziel could cross the shadow bridge and climb the sides of free-standing arch opposite - taking advantage of the headwind to glide across to the small heart room armed with the Light Reaver. Activating the Light crystal within the darkened room lit the chamber and spawned the Green heart. Returning the Green heart to the green heart altar in the main core chamber, Raziel was able to activate part of the forge and provide the final Air updraft.


 * MP-ActivityMap-Air.png The Air Reaver: "The Air Reaver can activate Air plinths, which are located in strategic spots throughout Nosgoth. Once triggered, Air Plinths issue a strong updraft, allowing Raziel to glide across chasms and up to higher platforms. Raziel can also use Air Reaver bolts to shatter Cracked doors and walls. Another benefit of the Air Reaver is that it allows you to travel unencumbered through the mucky swamp water."

Following the routes back to the forge entrance, Raziel found himself trapped by new obstacles. Initially, the entrance to the main forge chamber would become blocked, forcing Raziel to utilize his first Air plinth to glide over the blocked doorway and into an open hole above it allowing him to return to the entrance corridor. As he reached the other end of the corridor, the permeable barrier was replaced by a cracked doorway and by firing a Reaver bolt from the Air Reaver, Raziel was able to blast the door apart and make his way to the exit of the forge.

Players (in order of appearance)

 * Raziel (voiced by Michael Bell) and Raziel's voiceovers

Conclusions

 * Raziel has definitively learned of the infliction of the Blood curse by the Hylden in the time Before Nosgoth's recorded history and has realized that the ancient blue winged race responsible for the Raising of the Pillars and the creation of the Reaver were indeed Nosgoth's first Vampires. This had previously been hinted in murals in the Subterranean Pillars Chamber and conversations with Kain in Chapter 2: Decision at the Pillars and Chapter 5: A Fateful Meeting.
 * Raziel has forged the Wraith Blade with elemental Air, creating the Air Reaver and activating all Air-attuned Reaver fonts - these will remain activated even in Nosgoth's early history.
 * Raziel has demonstrated the use of both Air plinths and Cracked doors, and has realized that he now has the means to enter the time-streaming chamber in the Swamp.