Snow



Snow was a form of weather based around frozen liquid - usually water - precipitation. Closely related to rain and cold weather, snow was present throughout the series, with sections taking place in snowy environments in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance; however it was only in its first appearance in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain that snow was treated as an environmental hazard due to the vulnerability of vampires such as Kain to water.

Profile

 * Name: Snow
 * Category: recurring terms • Weather
 * Introduced: • Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996)
 * Appearances: •  •  •
 * Related Articles: Water, Rain, Warped precipitation, Blood fountains

Role
Snow was first seen in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain where it was largely a successor to the Rainfall encountered in early chapters. Kain could first encounter snow in The Hunt for Malek as he travelled into the region north of Coorhagen and onto Malek's Bastion, encountering a frozen region in the north apparently covered in ice and fallen snow. A little while after Kain emerged into the frozen lands - usually at some point in Malek's Bastion - he would encounter his first snowfall as a vampire and commented on its ability to cause damage to vampires. Like other weather types, snowfall was governed by a certain amount of chance and timing and it could thus be encountered in many locations in the north of Nosgoth. Snowfall was only risky to Kain for a short time as he was able to discover a blood fountain in a cave nearby the Oracle's Cave which granted him immunity to the damage caused by rainfall. Thereafter snow could still fall at random intervals in the appropriate areas but it was largely harmless and was ultimately superseded by the far less predictable and more damaging Warped precipitation.

Snow returned in later titles but it was largely scripted and atmospheric in purpose with no particular hazard or environmental concerns associated with it; and it was often permanently associated with a particular location or time period. Snow could be seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver in several locations such as the Ruined City and the Oracle's Cave - as with Blood Omen these were locations in the north of Nosgoth, but unlike Blood Omen it continually snowed in these locations.. Snowfall returned in Soul Reaver 2 where a wintry scene complete with fallen snow and ice was shown in all locations throughout the era of Nosgoth's early history; suggesting seasonal changes in weather conditions and a winter period for those chapters. Snow was last seen in Legacy of Kain: Defiance where a similar 'winter' effect was seen some years later with all of the locations in Kain's chapters in Nosgoth's early history dominated by snow and ice. Even the cancelled title Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy featured some levels apparently using a wintry backdrop complete with falling snow.

Appearances

 * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
 * Soul Reaver 2
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance