Souls

undefined: Souls are the eternal, non corporeal spirits of most, if not all lifeforms on Nosgoth. Souls live on after death, when they cross over to the Spectral Realm. Souls feature throughout the Legacy of Kain  series, most notably in the Soul Reaver arc as Raziel had to consume souls to survive.

Role
Souls were first featured in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, where they ability of Souls to live beyond the physical death of the body was part of the background to the story and an often seen part of gameplay, with souls presented as a semi-transparent figures. Three of the major characters of the story were beyond death and in the initial chapters of Blood Omen, Malek's soul was imprisoned in within his armor for his failure to prevent the slaughter of the circle, Ariel's soul trapped at the Pillars of Nosgoth by their corruption, and Kain assassinated and his soul offered a chance of vengeance and resurrection (as a vampire) by Mortanius. As well as this, many enemy characters were observed in a similar manner, as after Kain had killed enemy combatants he could re-visit a room and it would be populated with Undead ghost versions of the living inhabitants, which could be fed upon when defeated, providing Blue Blood which filled Kain's Magic energy.

Souls were also mentioned in dialogue relating to several items and spells. The Wraith smiths responsible for the Spirit forges were acknowledged to "forge their items with forfeit souls" and Elzevir was noted to manipulate Souls, imprisoning the soul of the Princess of Willendorf in a doll. Kain could also extract Souls himself using the Spells Control Mind, Spirit Death and Spirit Wrack, all of which forcibly displaced an enemies soul ( two of which could allow Kain to control the vacant corpse). Alongside this, the Soul Reaver blade was noted to "feed on the souls of any creature it strikes" and the Wraith Armor as "tempered from the seething agony of tortured souls".

Souls were central to the mythology of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and the rest of the Soul Reaver titles, not least because of Raziel's need to consume them to survive. Initially at the outset of the Soul Reaver era, Kain had "snared" the souls of his lieutenants to revive them as vampires and through this relationship they had also inherited the the corruption present in Kain's soul, leading to the eventual devolution of the Vampire clans of Nosgoth. After his execution, Raziel was revived by the Elder God as a wraith, native to the Spectral Realm and needing to regularly consume souls to refill his Health coil and maintain his Material manifestation.

Feeding on the souls of his brothers would also grant him new abilities. As Raziel's Soul was consumed by the Reaver, it inherited his soul consuming abilities, becoming the Soul Reaver.

Souls apparently had their origin in the Elder God 's Wheel of Fate ; the cycle of life, death and rebirth. All of Nosgoth's inhabitants apparently had souls. The soul of a Human, Vampire or other creature inhabited the body until death when it departed for the Spectral Realm. (although Wraiths such as Raziel could apparently observe souls lingering in the Material Realm for a short while.) Whilst humans die and release their souls to the Wheel of Fate, the Blood Curse means vampires are immortal and their souls are "imprisoned in the flesh" which clogs the Wheel of Fate. Their Souls can only be liberated by death.

When Souls reached the Spectral Realm they could be fed upon by agents of the Elder God, (such as Raziel and the Archons) and would presumably be respun in the Wheel of Fate. Whilst in the Spectral Realm however, the souls were vulnerable to soul scavengers such as Sluagh and Vampire Wraith. Vampire souls, if left in the Spectral Realm long enough could grow accustomed to it and become Vampire Wraiths.

The relationship between Souls and ghosts is unclear though it appears that some souls (perhaps those with 'unfinished business') were able to manifest in the Material Realm.