Nosgoth

 Nosgoth is the land in which the Legacy of Kain games are set. To date, every location seen in the series has been set within the boundaries of Nosgoth.

History and Condition
Prior to the Corruption of the Pillars in the Pre-Blood Omen era, Nosgoth was depicted as somewhat of a paradise with "abundant life and vitality". In Nosgoth's early history, the Ancient Vampires and Hylden had been involved in a devastating war for control of Nosgoth. This war would lead to the near-destruction of both species. With the raising of the Pillars of Nosgoth and the construction of the binding the Hylden were banished to the Demon Realm and as the vampires fell to the Blood Curse, a Human Rebellion would overthrow their control and the Pillars would come under Human guardianship - leading to the ancient history of the vampires being wiped out and forgotten as the Humans came to view the vampires as "a plague upon mankind". Eventually the friction between the humans and (a new generation of) vampires would lead to the instigation of the Sarafan crusades against the vampire menace. The successful Sarafan would eliminate many vampires over the years, including the last of the ancients, Janos Audron, but eventually (possibly due in part to revenge attacks by Vorador and Raziel) the order would crumble. Though much of the history crucial to later conflicts has it's beginnings at this time, Nosgoth itself is depicted as in 'good health' until the Corruption of the Pillars in the Pre-Blood Omen era (though later evidence suggests that the loss of Vampire guardians may have had an unseen effect upon the stability of Nosgoth.)

Within the series, Nosgoth was first mentioned in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain as the 'land' where Blood Omen takes place, in this era, several maps (including one avaliable in-game) depicted Nogoth as a tempearate reigion with a diverse environment including many forests, mountain ranges (Nogoth is surrounded by them in this depiction), rivers and lakes, and a range of settlements. Nosgoth was depicted as stretching from the Lake of Tears in the west to the Provincial Mines in the east and from Coorhagen/Dark Eden in the north to the Cemetery/Lake of Serenity to the south.



Whilst on the course of his quest in Blood Omen, Kain would be able to explore much of this area of Nosgoth, though many of the locations significant to later games were inaccessible (including the Great Southern Lake and the Lake of Tears; sites of the Sarafan Stronghold and Vampire Citadel respectively). It was also hinted that map was at least partially incomplete as there were mentions of several settllements (apparently much further to the east or north) that were infected by the plague or conquered by the Legions of the Nemesis (prior to their attack on Stahlberg).

During the course of Blood Omen, the health of Nosgoth itself was threatened by the Corruption of the Pillars and at the climax of that game, Kain's refusal to sacrifice himself to retore them, sealed the Collapse of the Pillars and Nosgoth would slowly become a wasteland. For the next few centuries Nogoth would be subjected to violent Demon incursions from the Demon Realm and Kain (in the fourth paradox timeline) would build up his army and attempt a conquest of Nosgoth, becoming embroiled in a war with the fledgling Sarafan Order for control of Nosgoth. In this era, maps focused on the previously unseen south-western coast of Nosgoth along the Great Southern Sea, (likely because of the prolonged conflict between Kain's Army and the Sarafan Order concentrated in that area). By the time of Kain's revival, the Sarafan (and Hylden) influence had brought something of an Industrial Revolution to Nosgoth and at this time Nosgoth's capital was based at Meridian, on the coast of the Great Southern Sea (presumably before their collapse, the pillars would have held such an honor).

After the defeat of the Sarafan Order, Kain would raise his own vampire sons and conquer Nosgoth, giving birth to his empire. With the domestication of the Humans, many human settlements were presumably destroyed (leaving only the Human Citadel) and human slaves were put to work constructing the new empire (including building Kain's throne room, the Sanctuary of the Clans, built around the collapsed remains of the pillars) But the effects of the Pillars collapse had begun to severly effect the health of Nosgoth and little of the green vegetation seen in previous era remained. The formerly calm Lake of the Dead had apparently 'collapsed in on itself', creating the Abyss, Kain's "execution ground for traitors and weaklings" and a major landmark of Kain's Nosgoth. Further to this, Kain's empire had begun to take actions to make the land hospitable for the dominant vampires and huge furnaces were built to "belch smoke into the sky, shielding the land from the poisonous effects of the sun". Jake Pawloski has created a map which has all the areas present and cut which applies to both during Raziel´s late years as a vampire and the Soul Reaver era. This map is one of the most accurate Soul Reaver maps available and is the only one which also shows the location of the lakes and land in comparison to the landmarks.

After Raziel's execution, Nosgoth decended further into a wasteland and by the time of Raziel's return five centuries later, the Vampire Clans of Nosgoth had devolved into various beasts and "scattered to the corners of Nosgoth" (though several clan territories would remain around the heart of Kain's Empire in western Nosgoth.) By this time, Nosgoth was "wracked with cataclysms" (apparently due to attempts by Nosgoth itself to "shrug off the pestilence of Kain’s parasitic empire.") with the Elder commenting that Nosgoth was "on the brink of collapse" and Kain admitting that "this place has outlasted it's usefulness". After travelling back in time and observing Nosgoth before the corruption, Raziel referred to this era as "the corpse of Nosgoth – a lifeless husk, bled dry by the corruption of Kain’s parasitic empire." Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance would explore Nosgoth at earlier periods in time (the early and later Sarafan eras and the Pre and Post-Blood Omen eras) and these would re-inforce the view that prior to the Corruption of the Pillars, Nosgoth was a land of vitality and after their collapse, a dying wasteland.

Settlements and Locations

 * see Category: Locations