Mortanius

Mortanius the Necromancer is a principal character in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, a member of the Circle of Nine and Guardian of the Pillar of Death. Mortanius was responsible for resurrecting Kain as a vampire, and served as an enigmatic benefactor throughout his quest to restore Nosgoth. Eventually, it transpired that Mortanius's body was a vessel to the malevolent Dark Entity; he had assassinated and resurrected Kain in an attempt to correct the imbalance caused by the murder of Ariel and the corruption of the Pillars. Mortanius was the final Guardian to perish in Kain's wake.

Mortanius's character is further revisited and explored in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. He, alongside Moebius, initiated the human crusades against the ancient vampires, which led to the eventual corruption of the Pillars of Nosgoth. While struggling against the Hylden Lord's attempts to possess his body, Mortanius had attempted to atone for his crimes by creating Kain - the prophecied Scion of Balance - using the Heart of Darkness.

In a World Without Life
"If the Circle is to be destroyed, you have to die as well, Necromancer. I admire your cunning, but you will not escape your fate."

- Kain



Upon the demise of the preceding Death Guardian, Mortanius was born, supernaturally culled to inherit curatorship of the Pillar of Death. As a human Guardian, he was born some time after the genesis of the Pillars of Nosgoth, and - along with the longevity of life gifted to him by his birthright - he was "skilled in the arts of manipulating death". Ancient and judicious, Mortanius was absent when Vorador launched his infamous attack on the Sarafan Stronghold in Nosgoth's early history, and was one of only three of the Circle of Nine's serving members to survive the vampire's onslaught.

In the aftermath, Mortanius personally administered punishment to Malek, the disgraced protector of the Circle. He magically stripped Malek's spirit from his body and fused it to his armor, proclaiming to him that "you have but one purpose, damned one. You will serve us for eternity". However, Mortanius's own integrity would eventually be compromised. In the pre-Blood Omen era, he was seduced away from his service of the Pillars by a power beneath Avernus, essentially "inviting" malevolent forces to infiltrate and subvert the Circle. The Dark Entity - an enigmatic force bent on destroying the Pillars - possessed him, and, controlling his body, murdered Ariel, the Balance Guardian.

"Wracked with grief and tormented by suspicions of treachery" upon finding her corpse, Ariel's lover Nupraptor - the Mind Guardian - vowed vengeance on Mortanius, and turned his telepathic powers against the Circle. Plunging into madness and launching a furious telepathic assault, he ensured that "the minds of [Nosgoth's] sensitive and intellectual [were] blasted by relentless waves of hatred". Each of the nine living Guardians were left insane by the attack, "some raving like madmen, others maliciously in control of their actions"; the Pillars' veneer turned gray and cracked, reflecting the Circle's fundamental corruption.

Mercy and Judgement
"It had to be. Nupraptor’s insanity poisoned all of our minds. The Circle had failed in its sworn duties. It had to be destroyed."

- Mortanius



Realizing the peril his unwilling actions had caused, and desperate to redeem himself and correct Nosgoth's imbalance, Mortanius was "in constant conflict" with the Dark Entity. He understood that the current Guardians "had to be destroyed" and replaced in order to restore balance to the land, and conspired to purge the Circle. Mortanius learned of the young nobleman Kain, Ariel's then-unwitting successor as Balance Guardian. He secretly hired a band of assassins to murder Kain in Ziegsturhl, then resurrected Kain as a vampire, guiding him towards vengeance.

Though Kain's assassins were dead, Mortanius hinted that they "were merely the instruments of [his] murder, not the cause"'; he manipulated the vampire into slaughtering Nupraptor, a goal Ariel's specter reiterated when Kain visited the Pillars. As Kain journied Nosgoth and killed successive Guardians, under the impression that his curse would end if the Pillars were restored, Mortanius occasionally addressed him with symbiotic magic, subtly spurring him on. When he failed in his attempt to destroy Malek, Mortanius commented that "the game grows interesting"; that "the true player" was elusive amidst "so many pawns". After Kain met Vorador, Mortanius guided him towards the Guardians operating in Dark Eden, claiming that "north is where your vengeance lies".

Mortanius issued his final words of advice as Kain traveled to Willendorf under the advice of the Oracle of Nosgoth, an insight into his philosophy: "one cannot quite accept that which sustains him", and "death cannot reign in a world without life". He did not address his "undead son" again until Kain emerged in the second timeline, having navigated and exposed the schemes of the Oracle - Moebius the Time Streamer. Mortanius heartily congratulated Kain, telling him that "Moebius did so love playing the trickster’s part", but that "with all his plots he failed to plan for you". He entreated for the vampire to return to the Pillars, promising that "the stage is set for the grand finale": Kain would have his vengeance.

The Sweet Dark Serenity of Death
"Come to me, my undead son. Make haste to the Pillars; the stage is set for the grand finale. You will have your vengeance."

- Mortanius



When Kain arrived at the Pillars, responding to Mortanius's invitation, he found the Necromancer being confronted by Anarcrothe, the States Guardian. Kain observed their dispute, unnoticed, watching as Anarcrothe angrily accused Mortanius of betraying the Circle; the Alchemist contended that his peer had "had Kain killed and turned him into a monster". Mortanius justified his own actions, arguing that "the Circle had failed in its sworn duties" and "had to be destroyed" as a necessity. He attempted to destroy Mortanius, but the Necromancer easily resisted the Alchemist's magic, and brutally dispatched his foe with a combination of lightning, telekinesis and shadow spots.

With all his adversaries destroyed save Mortanius, Kain emerged from hiding. He openly commended Mortanius's cunning, but assured him that he would "have to die as well" - he would not escape his fate. Mortanius embraced this truth, but told the "princeling" that "my death will leave one more to take". The two fought; Mortanius raised skeletons, zombies and shadow summoners to battle Kain, but, eventually, he succumbed. As Mortanius died, the Dark Entity crushed his mind and psyche, twisting his body into the shape of a huge demon. Claiming his Death Orb, Kain briefly restored the Pillar of Death before destroying this last remnant of his would-be benefactor.

"Revolted by the machinations of the human sorcerers and alienated from his former humanity" in receipt of the knowledge that he himself was the Balance Guardian, Kain ostensibly chose to undermine Mortanius's intentions. He refused to sacrifice himself, ensuring the survival of the vampire race, but triggering the collapse of the Pillars and perpetuating the corruption of Nosgoth. Over the years, however, he sought a means to restore balance to the world. Two thousand years after the Necromancer's death, when confronted by Raziel on questions of conscience, Kain invoked his name: "your life’s span is a flicker compared to the mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanius first turned me from the light".

The True Player
"The Necromancer had offered me no warning as to what my resurrection would entail, and yet I must confess, in my haste, I had not sought one. Was his gift a curse? I would seek the Pillars for an answer."

- Kain



In the early history era of the fourth timeline, while attempting to track down Raziel after saving him from the Soul Reaver, Kain unearthed a significant facet of Mortanius's history for the first time. While exploring the Vampire Citadel, he came upon a mural recording the Circle of Nine's past. Before Nosgoth's recorded history, the sterile, cursed ancient vampires, the creators and original Guardians of the Pillars, had "adopted - and, when necessary, abducted – the human Guardians, and made vampires of them when they came of age". Ultimately, the humans rebelled against the vampires, claiming the Pillars for their own: according to the image, Moebius and Mortanius had been the leaders of the "bloody revolt".

During the same timeline's Blood Omen era, while exploring Avernus Cathedral in his search for the Heart of Darkness, Raziel chanced upon Mortanius in person, shortly prior to his fateful battles with Anarcrothe and Kain at the Pillars. Mortanius was the officiant leading the cenobites in the Avernus Catacombs, directing them in a liturgical chant to their Blood God, Hash'ak'gik. Offering tribute upon the "upon the altar of the world", the cult sacrificed "the blood of [their] first born", casting bodies into a pit below. His god's wrath supposedly appeased, Mortanius affirmed that the "wrath of Hash'ak'gik has once more been averted", concluding the lurid ceremony.

Peering into the pit, Raziel was telekinetically thrust into its nightmarish darkness, where he discovered the creature's identity: Hash'ak'gik was Turel, his vampire brother from the Soul Reaver era, transported back through time. The force Mortanius had fallen subservient to - the Dark Entity, or Unspoken - was a leading member of the banished Hylden race, exiled to the Demon Realm by the magic of the Pillars at the conclusion of the vampire-Hylden war. After killing Turel, Raziel had the opportunity to question the Necromancer on this revelation. Above the pit, while he magically conveyed his "make haste to the Pillars" command to the younger Kain, Raziel accosted him.

Embracing Fate
"Ah, now you think of that. But as I told you, you are too late. The Heart has served its function. I have used it to set prophecy in motion. I created the champion foretold by my masters, who is destined to be your destroyer. The Scion of Balance will save Nosgoth -- the Pillars will return to vampire guardianship as intended, and your race will be cast down forever."

- Mortanius



Mortanius was unaware of Raziel's identity: he immediately assumed that he was facing the Hylden champion, and remarked that "the Binding must be fragile indeed". Satisfied that the champion was "too late", Mortanius said he had "beaten" the Hylden. As they spoke, Mortanius's body was periodically possessed by the Dark Entity: the Hylden Lord, "nestled in the heart of the Circle itself". He had been used as a vessel by the Hylden to kill Ariel, in their long-calculated plot to free themselves from their imprisonment.

The Necromancer explained his own motives: in ages past, he had agreed with Moebius that "the vampires were simply a plague upon mankind, a pestilence [they] had to control", but only now appreciated that, during their rebellion, he "didn't understand what it was the Pillars were holding back". Seeking redemption for his part in the Pillars' destruction, Mortanius had resurrected Kain using the Heart of Darkness, bringing the ancient vampires' prophecies to fruition. He (incorrectly) believed that Kain embodied both the Scion of Balance and the vampire champion, taunting Raziel that "the Pillars will return to vampire guardianship as intended, and your race will be cast down forever".

Exhaustedly battling the Hylden Lord's violent attempts at possession, Mortanius knew that his enemy was "growing stronger". He trusted that Kain would "set it right" and restore balance, thus redeeming the Necromancer and all of Nosgoth, but he realized that his own time was short. As the Hylden Lord claimed he would "soon have a stronger vessel", Mortanius accepted his fate. With a groan, he uttered that he must "finish it. Now" to Raziel, before teleporting away to the Pillars, and his own demise.

"How else? I refused at first to believe the ancient myths. I thought the vampires were simply a plague upon mankind, a pestilence we had to control. But they were right, and we were wrong to overthrow them - Moebius and I. We didn't understand what it was the Pillars were holding back. I have made my atonement. I will continue to make it to the end, which will be soon, now. But I know - Kain will set it right, he will restore Balance --"

- Mortanius

Development
Dialogue recorded for, but cut from, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain suggests that Mortanius's motives were significantly revised during development; his murder of Ariel was, at one point, supposed to be deliberate. In lines of exposition removed from his scene with Anarcrothe at the Pillars, Mortanius was to admit to having killed Ariel of his own accord, claiming full responsibility for the deed, and invoking her reckless love of Nupraptor as his justification:

"No Anacrothe, I am its Savior. The Circle was damned before my deeds. At the onset, I blamed Ariel. She was the Balance of the Circle. She and Nupraptor with their love threatened us all. With their union, how could there be balance? Yes, I killed her. But Nupraptor's vengeance - for me, 'twas both blessing and curse. His pain split my soul in two. Part of me shared his anguish, a grief so fierce it would destroy the world. And yet the other found revelation. For the first time, through the haze of madness, I saw truth. The problem did not lie in one of us, it lay in us all. We are relics, old friend, remnants of an era long gone, seeking to play gods in a world that no longer needs one. Our death shall resurrect the world."

- Mortanius (deleted dialogue)

In the canonical storyline, culpability for the murder of Ariel is explicitly attributed to the Unspoken/Dark Entity; Mortanius is in conflict with it, and there is no indication that he resented Nupraptor and Ariel's romance - only the corruption it caused. However, one incongruous vestige of the excised plot remains in the finished game; Ariel brands Mortanius a "traitor" and a "beast", even though he was not directly guilty of causing her death. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance retroactively provided an explanation for her comment in clarifying how Mortanius came to be possessed: that he was actually "seduced" away from his service by the Unspoken/Hylden, and practically invited these "dark forces" to compromise Nosgoth, only later realizing "what it was the Pillars were holding back" and striving to "correct the imbalance".

In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Mortanius was voiced by Tony Jay. In the sequel, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Tony Jay voiced the Elder God, whose role emulated that of Mortanius's in the first game: both characters resurrected their games' respective protagonists, act as their telepathic advisors, and fuel their lust for revenge. As such, following Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver's release, it was very frequently speculated among fans that the Elder God and Mortanius were one and the same. In a 1999 interview, then-series director Amy Hennig replied "maybe" when asked if they were connected. 2003's Legacy of Kain: Defiance eventually refuted this possibility, however, establishing that the two characters were distinct individuals. In Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Alastair Duncan assumed the role of Mortanius, whereas Tony Jay voiced the Elder God. Hennig stated that the use of a new actor was to avoid confusion, explaining that "Tony has a great voice, but it's always clear that it's him, and the intention was not to make The Elder God and Mortanius sound the same". Upon casting Alastair Duncan, Hennig did not realize that he was coincidentially married to Anna Gunn, the voice actor for Ariel.

A few additonal lines intended for Mortanius in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain's cinematics were excised or altered. The game's epigraph, derived from Aleister Crowley's Magick (Book 4), was to be attributed to "A. Crowley or Possibly Mortanius", but it appears that Neil Ross spoke the lines in the final game rather than Tony Jay. Upon the murder of Ariel, Mortanius was to say "so it begins...", and, just prior to dying (being fully possessed), he was to cry "kill me fool, before it returns"!

Mortanius is the only Pillar Guardian whose whereabouts remain unaccounted for during the slaughter of the Circle in Nosgoth's early history. Following the release of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, Amy Hennig was asked where he was during that event. She simply answered that "Mortanius' whereabouts have not been revealed", implying that they may be of greater significance to the Legacy of Kain story. In the same Q&A, Hennig said that there is also an underlying meaning behind Anarcrothe's demand that Mortanius must "stand with us [...] or die", but she did not explain what it is. Given that it has since been shown that Mortanius served the Hylden, it is possible that Anarcrothe did too.

The Vorador's Mansion music theme plays during the battle between Mortanius and Kain in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.

Appearance


In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Mortanius has a distinctively necrotic appearance; Silicon Knights specified that "the toils of his magical practices with the dead have made [him] little more than a skin and bone husk whose fragility belies his ultimate power". He wears a sprawling, hooded black cloak and bone-like pauldrons, and his face - incredibly gaunt and skull-like - is a pallid shade of bone-white, and its sallow contours are clearly visible. His arms and body are dark red, composed of what appears to be exposed flesh or tissue, and his midsection exposes what appears to be an actual ribcage. His hands are spindly, also resembling naked bone, and his eyes are white, but turn red when he wields telekinesis in combat. He wears brown bangles on both wrists, and a black, robe-like raiment around his lower body.

For Crystal Dynamics' Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Mortainus underwent a re-design based on artwork by Kory Heinzen. His deathly appearance is toned down somewhat: his white, skull-like face in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain is revealed to be a Death's Head mask, a garment he can summon or dismiss using magic. Mortanius removes the mask for his main scene in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, revealing his actual face and skin, which is furrowed, gaunt and ashen in hue, but not skeletal. His flesh-like body and ribcage are re-worked into clothing, and his hands are clearly human and whole. His cloak is a desaturated red instead of black; he still retains a hood, but wears it down in both of his scenes, revealing his cropped blue-black hair and a long soul patch beard.

Like the Revenants and others who fall victim to Hylden possession, Mortanius's eyes flare with green energy when he is possessed by the Hylden Lord. However, in both incarnations, Mortanius's eyes are usually colorless and pupiless, as are those of the possessed Janos Audron in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. It is possible that this is a symptom of his possession. Moebius and the devolved Turel also have desaturated, cataracted eyes, but theirs are not as pronounced as Mortanius's and Janos's.

Although he was a living being, Mortanius did not share the typical red blood of other humans; his blood was black, like Nosgoth's undead. This was presumably a consequence of his role as Death Guardian.

Personality
Mortanius was noted in Nosgoth for his senses of "mercy and judgment", which "tempered" his incredible power; by the end of his life, he was consistently portrayed as a benevolent, responsible and earnest individual, acting in the best interests of Nosgoth, but flawed and privately crippled with remorse for the crimes he committed in his youth. He was not obviously fickle, but his loyalties fluctuated over the years - originally acting as one of the foremost Guardians to champion humanity's dominion over the Pillars and the rise of the Sarafan brotherhood, he later elected to serve the Hylden and the Hash'ak'gik cult, before coming to fathom his "sworn duties", despise the Hylden, and sympathise strongly with his "masters", the vampires. His respect for ethics may have influenced his role in the revolt; the vampires' passing of the blood curse was described as an "evil", albeit a necessary one. Ultimately shouldering guilt on realizing the intent of the Hylden, and obsessed with atonement, he willingly accepted his imminent death, only ensuring that the rest of the Circle was eliminated before perishing himself.

Among all the Guardians of the Blood Omen era, Mortanius alone did not exhibit overt signs of the insanity inflicted by Nupraptor. Whereas his comrades wreaked havoc on the land, he sought to purge the Circle and restore Nosgoth to its former glory. He was also the only corrupted Circle member to acknowledge and fulfil his obligation to apprentice Kain into its ranks, albeit in an unconventional manner. Nevertheless, the specter of Ariel - who shared his motives - still vitriolically described him as a "traitor" and a "beast" to Kain, possibly implying some prior bitterness between the two. Anarcrothe denounced him as an "idiot" when he learned of Kain's resurrection. Even Kain begrudged the Necromancer for his surreptitious actions and lack of openness; despite admiring Mortanius's "cunning", he essentially founded his empire because he was "pissed off because he was wronged", on the basis that "everything that happened to him was the result of someone else's machinations". The Necromancer, however, had strong fondness for Kain and the utmost faith in him, even describing the young vampire as his "undead son".

Mortanius is never seen interacting with Moebius in person, but his dialogue suggested at least a mild, fraternal familiarity between the two: he spoke of Moebius's "guise as the Oracle" and his proclivity for "playing the trickster's part" with good humor, and uttered "Moebius and I" with no obvious bitterness or personal enmity when recalling their revolt. It is uncertain, however, whether Mortanius was ever aware that the Elder God had orchestrated their rebellion, or that Moebius was responsible for delaying Malek during the slaughter of the Circle - two deceptions which perverted Mortanius's desire for justice and balance. The Necromancer may also, temporarily or permanently, have shared amicable relations with Azimuth, given their shared allegiance to the Hylden and history as members of the Hash'ak'gik cult in Avernus.

Powers


Mortanius was "one of the most ancient members of the Guardian Circle", serving the Pillar of Death for at least 2500 years before his demise in the Blood Omen era (this is based on Janos Audron's Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 comment that he had been guarding the Reaver "alone" for thousands of years; Moebius and Mortanius were born at a time when the ancient vampires still controlled the Circle). Like all other Circle members, he was granted a supernatural longevity of life by the power behind the Pillars.

By the Blood Omen era, "his power [had] accumulated over the centuries, arguably making him the most potent wizard in all of Nosgoth". Deleted dialogue from Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain suggests that he was considered more powerful than his peer Moebius, despite lacking the "certain level of omniscience" the Time Streamer possessed. His Pillar token was his Death Orb, which granted him "dominion over the grave". Kain held Mortanius in high regard as a sorcerer, remarking that the powerful incantation Spirit Death was "a spell worthy of the Necromancer himself".

In his signature role, Mortanius's specific task was to "ensure the balance of life and rebirth", but, throughout Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, he wielded a myriad of abilities beyond this discipline. He manipulated souls, stripping Malek's spirit from his body and fusing it to his armor - Malek's body was reduced to a skeleton in the process. He telepathically communicated with Kain on multiple occasions, seemingly anticipating the vampire's journey through Nosgoth, and could teleport. When struck by the full force of Anarcrothe's magic, he emerged completely unscathed, apparently resisting the attack; he countered with his own offensive magic, first wielding and controlling a scything bolt of lightning, then following with telekinesis potent enough to lift and throw Anarcrothe's body.

More traditionally, given his title, Mortanius could summon various forms of undead. Against Anarcrothe, he called shadow spots, and against Kain, he raised zombies, shadow summoners and unique skeletons whose bones violently exploded into projectiles when raised. Legacy of Kain: Defiance indicated that one of Mortanius's powers had its restrictions, however: whereas there was no particular evidence from Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain that he was limited in his ability to raise vampires, the later game established that this was probably not one of his standard capacities. He had required the Heart of Darkness to resurrect Kain.

As Death Guardian, Mortanius was capable of shifting between the Material and Spectral Realms. He was seen in the Underworld in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, it was possible for Raziel to approach him in either plane. Mortanius's Death guardianship also enabled him to resist becoming Transformed by Hylden possession for an extensive period of time, longer than other humans.

Etymology
Mortanius's name is presumably derived from the Latin word for "death" or "mortality" - "mortis/mortalitus" - and "animatio", meaning "animation". His appellation was devised by writer Ken McCulloch. Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain's marketers urged McCulloch "towards [choosing] more accessible and less flavorful names", but - although several other NPCs' names were revised - he stood his ground on calling this character "Mortanius", and the moniker made it into the final product.

Mortanius's title in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was Necromancer. Necromancy was a form of magic in which the practitioner attempted to contact the spirits of the dead, often to gain knowledge of the future.

Appearances

 * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (mentioned only)
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic (mentioned only)
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance