Pillar of Death

The Pillar of Death is one of the nine Pillars of Nosgoth, and the easternmost one on the dais. Attuned to the property of Death, it was preserved for most of its existence by the Human Guardian Mortanius, and was eventually sundered in the Collapse of the Pillars following his death. Its pillar token was Mortanius's Death Orb. The Pillar appears throughout the entirety of the Legacy of Kain series.

Role
As one of the Pillars of Nosgoth, the Pillar of Death appeared throughout the Legacy of Kain series, debuting in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The Pillar was present along with its peers in the Pillars of Nosgoth areas of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver, Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance and could be revisited in all titles after its initial appearance. The Pillar could also briefly be seen in the Blood Omen 2 introduction and was featured in illustrations in comics.

Constructed in Nosgoth's early history, the Pillar of Death was corrupted in the pre-Blood Omen era when Ariel was murdered by the Dark Entity. Upon finding her corpse, her lover - the Guardian of the Pillar of the Mind, Nupraptor - was driven mad by grief and unleashed a frenzy of mental energy, which drove all of his fellow Guardians insane and simultaneously corrupted their Pillars.

The Pillar of Death could be the seventh or eighth of the Pillars to be restored during Kain's initial quest, and enjoyed the least time in its unblemished state. It was briefly returned to normal when Kain offered Mortanius's Death Orb to it, following Mortanius's demise at the Dark Entity's hands. Shortly afterward, Kain chose to refuse the Sacrifice and triggered the Collapse of the Pillars. Now rotten to its core, the festering stump of the Pillar of Death was all that remained, alongside its eight counterparts.Lasting in this state into the late Soul Reaver era the pillar would be visited by Raziel in pursuit of his vendetta against Kain and he too would return to gather advice from Ariel.

As Raziel and Kain traveled through time in Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance they would encounter the pillar several more times in different states in different eras - pristine in Nosgoth's early history and the Pre-Blood Omen eras, corrupted in the Pre-Blood Omen and Blood Omen eras, and collapsed in the Blood Omen and Post-Blood Omen eras. Ultimately it was revealed that the Pillar of Death - like its peers - was constructed by the Ancient Vampires to bind the banishment of their enemies, the Hylden race, into the Demon Realm. It was originally guarded by an Ancient Vampire - the original Death Guardian - and its creation marked the close of the Vampire-Hylden war.

Appearances

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