Sarafan (era following Blood Omen)

''"The Sarafan, an army of fanatical Humans sworn to eradicate all Vampires from the world. A new leader brought them together and, wielding a new kind of magic, deadly to our kind, was able to destroy your army and kill most of the vampires. You were defeated in mortal combat by this leader, the Sarafan Lord. But that is not the end of the story. Under the guise of protecting the land from the vampire menace, the Sarafan seized control of all of Nosgoth, and their rule is not kind. For two hundred years, the Sarafan have enslaved the humans under their iron rule, and hunted down and destroyed every vampire they could find."

- Umah ''

The Sarafan Order, also known simply as The Sarafan (or alternatively Seraphan), was a major faction in the fourth timeline. Founded by the Sarafan Lord sometime after the Collapse of the Pillars, The Sarafan Order was dedicated to exterminating Vampires in Nosgoth. After defeating Kain's vampire army in the Battle of Meridian, the order took control of the whole of Nosgoth under the tyrannical rule of the Sarafan Lord. The rule of the Sarafan was undermined by the Cabal, who revived Kain and used him as an agent against the Sarafan. The order presumably crumbled shortly after Kain uncovered it as a front for the Hylden and defeated the Sarafan Lord at the Hylden Gate.

Early History
In the aftermath of the Collapse of the Pillars and the Hylden Lord's possession of Janos Audron (as seen in the climax of Defiance), the Hylden Lord was able to use the 'rift' caused by the destruction of the pillars to "breach through the dimensions" and return his natural Hylden body to the Material Realm. Building (or re-populating) The Hylden City and the Hylden Gate (using Hylden assistance brought through the gate orSlave labour kidnapped from mainland Nosgoth) the Hylden Lord was able to secure the Hylden presence in Nosgoth.

Lacking the power to bring about a full invasion of Nosgoth, and requiring an army andHumans to drain of energy, the Hylden Lord travelled to mainland Nosgoth (probably in his Human disguise) and learnt of a "legendary order whose purpose was to purge the world of vampires ". Inspired by the tales of this Sarafan order, the Hylden Lord, founded the new Sarafan Order (with its headquarters in Meridian ) to cover the activites of the Hylden (whilst probably renaming himself "the Sarafan Lord" in the process).

Sometime later, with the rise and expansion of Kain's vampire army, the Sarafan Order no doubt gained an increase in membership from scared Humans. As the Vampire Army turned south and headed towards Meridian it became clear that a battle between the two fledgeling powers was inevitable and the Sarafan planned for this conflict (finding or creating the Nexus Stone and organising Sebastian's betrayal of the Vampire army) and dug in to defend Meridian from the coming Battle.

When the Battle of Meridian commenced, the Sarafan Lord wore the Nexus Stone, protecting him from the power of the Soul Reaver, and with Kain and the Sarafan Lord locked in combat; the Sarafan ambush (organised by Sebastian ) was able to over-power and defeat the weakened vampire army (now without Sebastian, Magnus and isolated from Kain), with the Sarafan Lord apparently killing Kain and gaining the Soul Reaver blade. A few of the remaining Vampires (including Faustus and Marcus ) switched their allegiance to the Sarafan to save their own lives.

The battle won, the Sarafan turned their attention towards hunting down the Vampires and the remains of the vampire army, eventually expanding their territory until they came to control all of Nosgoth itself. Presumably with this expansion of control came a re-organisation, changing the group from a paramilitary order to a legitimate socio-political state.

Later History
Over the next two centuries, the order would make great progress; apparently reducing the Vampire population of Nosgoth to a small 'cell' in Meridian (the Cabal); and introducing Glyph Magic (and related functions, such as Ward gates ) and other technological developments to Nosgoth's Human inhabitants. Though these developments were generally beneficial to the prosperity and safety of theHumans, the rule of the Sarafan and the Sarafan Lord became increasingly tyrannical (Janos and Umah described the Humans as "enslaved" ) - unfair taxes,  restrictions on movement  and several 'missing persons'  (likely kidnapped and taken to the Hylden City or the Device as Slaves) also contributed to the Human mistrust so that many Humans took to aiding the Cabal as Cabal Agents.



After his revival, Kain was specifically used by the Cabal as a 'covert' agent because he was "ancient history" to the Sarafan, enabling him access where the well-known faces of the Cabal would be recognised. Through his training (presumably for secrecy's sake) Kain was kept away from Sarafan troops and was instructed to avoid them at all costs. However, (possibly due in part to Kain's lack of enthusiasm for covert methods) Kain's presence was soon uncovered; in Chapter 1:the Slums, where Kain's meeting with a Cabal contact at the Grand Hotel had been observed by traitor vampire Faustus (Kain would himself kill Faustus in Chapter 2); and later in Chapter 3:The Lower City, where Kain met Sebastian.

Shortly afterward, with Kain seeking Sanctuary; the Sarafan Order scored a major coup - capturing one of the leading vampires of the Cabal,Umah (who had been investigating the Industrial Quarter). Umah was taken to the Sarafan Keep for a public execution. However due to the efforts of Kain and his collusion with the Bishop of Meridian, (himself pursued by the Sarafan for aiding the Cabal ) and Kain's murder of traitor Vampire Marcus, Kain was able to infiltrate the Sarafan Keep and make his way to the roof to rescue Umah, who was imprisoned behind Ward gates. As Kain freed Umah, The Sarafan Lord made his way to the roof and was able to see for himself that his old enemy had returned; Umah luckily teleporting Kain away before he was struck down by the Soul Reaver.



Through the rest of Blood Omen 2, The Sarafan Order, were shown to be aware of Kain and his association with the Cabal, but unable to hold his progress. In Chapter 6:The Industrial Quarter, Kain once again infiltrated a heavily armed and defended Sarafan area, blazing his way through the level and recovering the Nexus Stone and murdering traitor Vampire Sebastian (where Kain found out about the threat posed by the Device). As Kain made a journey throughthe Canyons to the Seer's Cottage, a Sarafan company was sent (officially) to eliminateLesser Demons in the area, however, a major part of their objective seemed to be to interfere with the meeting between the Seer and Kain - the Sarafan failed to kill either of them and Kain escaped, Teleported to the Device. Shortly after Kain entered the Device, he uncovered the truth of the Sarafan - that the Order was in reality a 'front' for the Hylden take-over of Nosgoth.

Confronting the Hylden forces controlling the Sarafan Order, Kain saw little of the Order itself, until his attempt to infiltrate the Wharves with Umah in Chapter 10 (attempting to make his way to the Hylden City). The heavily guarded Sarafan outpost (the Wharves) was defended by many Sarafan knights and Glyph knights who were able to corner and overpower Umah (with Kain performing the final blow himself, due to her earlier betrayal), but were once again, unable to prevent Kain infiltrating the heart of the Southern Docks and taking a ship towards the Hylden City. At the end of Chapter 11:The Hylden City, Kain was able to confront and kill the Sarafan Lord, leader of the Order, he speculated that the Sarafan "now leaderless, still had to be put down", indicating his plans to wipe out the order once and for all and begin his Empire. It is unlikely that the Sarafan Order survived for long after this time.

Ranking and Members
It is unclear how exactly ranking worked within the Order, however, the Sarafan Lord, clearly ruled the Order and was assisted by the traitor vampires, who were clearly of higher rank than the Humans (possibly due to their 'immortal' extended lifetimes). The rankings of Human 'enemies' associated with the order are similarly not really mentioned, though it could possibly be assumed that 'later' enemies had a higher rank.

Members and Possible Structure

 * The Sarafan Lord
 * Glyphwrights and other Hylden
 * Sebastian / Marcus / Faustus
 * Glyph knights
 * Sarafan knights
 * Glyph guards
 * Sarafan guards

Members of Unclear Ranking

 * Sarafan Archers
 * Sarafan priests
 * Mercenaries
 * the Gunship

Appearances

 * Blood Omen 2