Avernus

Avernus was a major city in Nosgoth that was visited as a playable location in both Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. The walled city was dominated by its large Cathedral.

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The city was once ruled by the Matriarch of Avernus, Azimuth, who upon becoming tainted by the corruption of the pillars, began summoning Demons from other dimensions (presumably the Demon Realm ) to attack the city, by the time the fledgling Kain ventured there, the city was in flames and much of the populace had been slaughtered by Demons, who avoided attacking the Cathedral itself, as this was the lair of Azimuth. Once within the Cathedral, Kain was able to find and claim the Soul Reaver blade (and the Wraith armor ) to defeat Azimuth and her demons. Within the walls of the Cathedral he also uncovered the first clues as to the true nature of the corruption of the pillars in the Avernus Catacombs, in the shape of Hash'ak'gik's altar.

In Defiance, Raziel was directed to the city, in search of the Heart of Darkness. Kain; advised of Raziel's progress and shown an image of Raziel overlooking the city in flames; was sent to a time period shortly after his visit in Blood Omen to confront Raziel. They both arrived at the Cathedral, though by the time Kain had arrived, Raziel had uncovered the catacombs, and found out some of its secrets regarding the Hash'akgik cult and Hylden history. Kain and Raziel were to battle in the Cathedral, believing they were enacting the champions' final battle. With Raziel claiming the Heart of Darkness and victory, he left the apparently dead Kain, who had been blasted through a portal to the Demon Dimension and continued his quest to revive Janos Audron. Shortly afterward, Kain managed to escape the Demon Realm and he too left Avernus for the Vampire Citadel. The City was presumably engulfed by the flames and completely destroyed shortly after.

Design and Layout
The main area of Avernus City appeared on maps as a square walled city with the Cathedral at its heart. This was not completely represented in game which showed an area is made up of four square map areas arranged vertically in an extended rectangle, each densely populated with a network of houses which clearly overspilled beyond the map edges. In each square only a small number of houses were actually accessible and barrier across streets made frequent trip into dungeons, basements and sewers necessary to cross the city.

Main City
The main city was the first area see and it consisted of a square of a the unblemished city, with houses and fountains in pristine condition, populated with villagers and Blue swordsmen.

Ruined City
The ruined city was the next square down and consisted of an area of the city that was heavily damaged. Gory remains and corpses were strewn around, houses bore a variety of rips, tears and holes, with some even collapsing to some degree and many were aflame. Enemies now included Shadow spots and Demons. Though not readily apparent, the accessible ruined city was split into four passages in the north, east, south and west - each linked to its nearest neighbors by underground passages.

Two further ruined areas were positioned to the south for the area surrounding the top half and the bottom half of the cathedral. These were both dominated by the central Cathedral, but were also surrounded by ruined houses and blocked streets. Again these were each divided into two sections, each covering a samller area above ground and linked by underground passages and tunnels.

Development
The Avernus Cathedral and Catacombs in Defiance had several areas removed from the game before completion due to timing and budgetary constraints, with some of of these deleted areas visible in concept art and Bonus materials. Ultimately the Defiance version of Avernus Cathedral and Catacombs is left as a much smaller area than the Blood Omen version of the Cathedral, and one of the smallest areas in the game.

Apocrypha
The destruction of Avernus was mentioned in the backstory to Nosgoth with the background of the Lost Seers of Avernus revealing them as descendants of a divinatory order of Cenobites known as "the Prophets" who had fled Avernus in shock at Azimuth's actions - taking rare treasures and artefacts from the cathedral and catacombs as they did.

The origins of the Prophets mean they are related to the religious groups and Cenobites seen in Avernus, particularly the Fire mages and Black fire mages seen in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and the Cenobite acolytes and Cenobite summoners seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. They are also related to the Witches and Witches' coven deleted from Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and the Demon worshippers removed fron Soul Reaver 2.

Appearances

 * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance

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Avernus