Nosgoth (cancelled game)/locations

Appearances

 * Nosgoth

The Fane
The Fane appeared in Nosgoth. It was the underground city of the Razielim.

Freeport
Freeport was a human settlement in southwestern Nosgoth on the shores of the Great Southern Sea. It was shown on maps in the post-Blood Omen era of the Fourth timeline in Blood Omen 2, was ostensibly one of the larger cities in southern Nosgoth at the time and acted as a theater of conflict in the vampire-Sarafan war. It was subsequently featured as a playable location in Nosgoth, taking place in the mid-Soul Reaver era of the Second timeline, where it was a theater of conflict in the War for Nosgoth.

Role
During his conquest of Nosgoth with his vampire army, roughly two centuries after the collapse of the Pillars, Kain perused a map of the southern region of the land. Alongside other landmarks, Freeport featured on this chart, and the trail of annexation which Kain plotted led the vampire army through its confines. After passing through Ziegsturhl and Provance, the vampires veered west to seize Freeport, before continuing southeast to challenge their Sarafan adversaries at Meridian.

The later fate of Freeport in the post-Blood Omen era was uncertain, but, following Kain's defeat at the hands of the Hylden Lord and the routing of the vampire army in the battle of Meridian, it was presumably recaptured by the Sarafan – if it still stood.

Freeport continued to exist into Soul Reaver era and appeared in Nosgoth as one of the first playable areas. Background lore indicated that in the early Soul Reaver era it was considered "the richest Human trading port in the Heartlands", ferrying produce from across Nosgoth by land and sea, with "defensive walls, fortified Guild Houses and expansive market places" and serving as something of a base for soldiers who doubled as local Vampire hunters. However as with all human settlements, Freeport was targeted at the start of Kain's empire and taken along with the rest of the Major human kingdoms, with its walls shattered and half its population slaughtered and the rest sent to Blood farms.

In the wake of the Vampire civil war centuries later, Freeport was one of the first areas to be recaptured and rebuilt by the Humans, who targeted it for its symbolic naming and strategic location. Freeport soon became a beacon for oppressed humanity, prompting vast migrations of refugees to the settlement but slowly overwhelming the resources available. As the settled area sprawled into a set of slums, disease and poverty became commonplace and it was only the coming of the Ironguard that prevented the total collapse of the city - as they quickly organised construction work and defenses and began to take citizens to join their ranks. Soon after, the arrival of the Alchemists set Freeport up as a human stronghold.

Soon the town was sending trained soldiers out into Nosgoth to fight the vampires in the name of humanity. As the clans reunited in a common cause to fight the War for Nosgoth, Freeport was quickly identified as a stronghold for the humans and troops dispatched to destroy it. However it took until the arrival of the Sentinels - carrying with them Naphtha weapons - for the stalemate to be broken as the slums were set alight and the civilian population panicked and ran. Bursting through the defenses at the "Gate of the Lost" the vampires once again had Freeport at their mercy.

As of the later Soul Reaver era observed in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Freeport had apparently been destroyed in the wake of Kain's empire, as the City was regarded as housing the "few humans that still [existed]" in that time period.

Design


In the initial map in Blood Omen 2, Freeport was portrayed as a coastal settlement, bordered by the Great Southern Sea on the west. It lay south of the Lake of Tears, west of Provance, and southwest of the Pillars of Nosgoth. Judging from the map, it was a walled city, partially surrounded by mountains.

By appearances, Freeport seemed to be much bigger than Ziegsturhl, and larger than Provance, but not as expansive as Meridian.

The map portrayed Freeport as home to a bay, with a nearby lone building situated on a rocky peninsula just southwest of the city. Illustrations in the surrounding sea may have implied heavy shipping use, or many shipwrecks, in the adjacent waters.

Background
Freeport, like Provance, was a settlement introduced in Blood Omen 2, but never actually seen, explored, or mentioned in that title beyond its image on the map in the game's introductory cinematic.

Much like other locations in Nosgoth's southern regions, Freeport was added to the Legacy of Kain series by the developers of Blood Omen 2, as opposed to the other Crystal Dynamics team led by Amy Hennig:

Several real-world places known as Freeport exist. The name itself tends to relate to the concept of the free port (porto franco), a trading zone with relaxed jurisdiction or political autonomy.

Provance
Provance was a southerly Nosgoth human settlement, introduced in Blood Omen 2. It was shown on maps in the post-Blood Omen era of the Fourth timeline and featured as a battleground for Kain's vampire army in the vampire-Sarafan war. It was subsequently featured as a playable location in Nosgoth, taking place in the mid-Soul Reaver era of the Second timeline, where it was a theater of conflict in the War for Nosgoth.

Role
When Kain commanded the conquest of the land with his vampire army in the post-Blood Omen era, roughly two centuries after the collapse of the Pillars, he viewed a map in his headquarters with Vorador which depicted the southern regions of Nosgoth. The town of Provance was one of many landmarks included on the geography. Kain led the vampires south through Ziegsturhl before advancing to Provance – slaughtering humans in their wake – then west through Freeport, and finally southeast to Meridian, where they fought the Sarafan in the battle of Meridian, before the Sarafan Keep.

What became of Provance after the defeat of the vampire army was not divulged. However, the Hylden Lord and the Sarafan may have recaptured it: "the Sarafan seized control of all of Nosgoth" within the ensuing two hundred years. Provance was known to have continued to exist into Soul Reaver era and made its playable debut in Nosgoth in this time as one of the first playable areas. Background lore indicated that in the early Soul Reaver era as the Major human kingdoms fell, it was considered a "strategic prize" situated in a "defendable enclave" between mountains and rivers at the border of vampire-controlled land around the Pillars of Nosgoth and Nachtholm and the human cities further south. As Kain's empire moved to capture the southern cities, the residents and defenders of Provance were left cut-off with no supplies and with little choice but to abandon the town to the vampires. Initially the town was used to "process supplies and prisoners." and satiate the "hedonistic" appetites of the vampires on the front lines, but as time progressed it became increasingly isolated from Kain's court at the Pillars and was slowly deserted by the vampires too. As the humans began to return in the shadow of the Vampire civil war in the mid-Soul Reaver era, they soon occupied Provance again, once more recognizing its strategic importance in defense of the settlements further south. No major battles were seen at Provance, however both sides waged a brutal guerrilla war to control the town and the land around it.

As of the later Soul Reaver era observed in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Provance had presumably been leveled or destroyed. In the time of Kain's empire, the City housed the "few humans that still [existed]".

Design


In the map, Provance lay on the southwestern edge of the Great Southern Lake. It sat south of the Pillars of Nosgoth, between Ziegsturhl and Meridian. It seemed that Provance was enclosed by a mountain chain to the east, the same chain bordering Meridian and the Sarafan Keep, and was shielded by several rivers that flowed from the Lake.

Provance dwarfed the nearby town of Ziegsturhl in terms of size, but, in turn, was dwarfed by the larger southern cities of Freeport and Meridian.

Background
Provance and Freeport are both introduced in Blood Omen 2, but never actually seen, explored, or mentioned in that title beyond its image on the map in the game's introductory cinematic.

Provance, Freeport, Meridian, and most of the other locations in Nosgoth's southern regions were added to the lore of the Legacy of Kain series by the Blood Omen 2 development team, not the other Crystal Dynamics team led by Amy Hennig:

In the real world, Provence is a region in southeast France. The possible misspelling of Provence/Provance is in line with the pseudo-German town names used in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. All other writing reminiscent of the French language in Nosgoth primarily occurs within Meridian in Blood Omen 2.

Sommerdamm
Sommerdamm was a human settlement in southern Nosgoth on the banks of the Great Southern Sea guarding the southern entrance to Meridian. The settlement was first seen in Nosgoth, appearing in maps of the era and accessible as a playable location.

Role
Sommerdamm was a map area first introduced to the series with the backstory of Nosgoth in 2013, where it was featured on maps of southern and western Nosgoth as a small settlement directly south of Meridian on the coast of the Great Southern Sea. Sommerdamm was subsequently identified as the fourth playable map area.

One of four highly defended self sufficient fort-settlements placed across delicate causeway bridges leading into Nosgoth's capital city Meridian, Sommerdamm was the southern-most of the fort-settlements defending Meridian's entrances. As Kain's empire began to rise to control the land in the Soul Reaver era, the Major human kingdoms were routed, Meridian and Sommerdamm among them. Even after its conquest and abandonment by the vampires, the city held a legendary status to the humans as the height of their development and resistance to the vampires; and this reputation served to attract many refugees, soon swelling the population of the city, turning it once again into a major human settlement and allowing much of the city and its defences to be rebuilt, whilst the vampires were occupied with their own internal struggles.

However, the Council and the warring vampire clans would soon realize the threat caused by the humans and called a truce to put down the humans once again. As the vampires again advanced toward Meridian, Sommerdamm was one of the last of Meridian's defenses to be rebuilt and it was only half completed when the War for Nosgoth began and the siege of Sommerdamm reignited

Avernus
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 the Cenobites known as the Prophets who had fled Avernus in shock at Azimuth's actions.

Coorhagen
Nosgoth materials suggested that the town continued to exist into the Soul Reaver era and that in the early years of Kain's empire, the town was controlled by the Vampires and was home to a number of human blood-farms and breeding-pens, beneath a colossus in the form of Kain himself. As such a strategic target, the town was among the first areas attacked by humans in the War for Nosgoth.

Dark Eden
After the fall of the Major human kingdoms and the rise of Kain's empire in the Soul Reaver era, Dark Eden became a designated hunting ground for fledgling vampires. The humans born and raised in Dark Eden became "cold hearted", "shrewd and opportunistic", setting up the faction known as the Watchers which was imitated in other corners of the land. It was the Watchers who first spotted the pursuit of Sarakiel and the evolved Razielim over the skies of Dark Eden, which signalled the start of the Vampire civil war and they duly sent word to the other humans, kicking off the human revival.

Great Southern Sea
The Great Southern Sea is mentioned as a body of water separating the 'Heartlands' of Nosgoth from the hinterlands beyond. The Sea is also noted to surround Sommerdamm and Meridian - with much of Meridian built on bridges above it. The Sea could be directly observed in game around the Sommerdamm and Freeport map areas.

History
Meridian was still a major city and human capital into the Soul Reaver era, where it continued to boast advanced infrastructure and technology: "fresh running water, gilded monuments and numerous columned bridges were alien to visitors more accustomed to Humanity’s isolated towns built of straw and wood. More than just a living space, the city of Meridian cultivated learning at its universities, training philosophers and architects, alchemists and generals to shape the world in their image." However Meridian's comfort also bred an ideal of wiping the vampires from the face of Nosgoth - a dream which was crushed when the hordes of Kain's empire descended on the city at the fall of the Major human kingdoms and Meridian was virtually destroyed becoming a "a scar on the landscape" - its inhabitants rounded up into Blood farms and slavery.

Over the years Meridian's "legendary splendour" attracted the few humans who escaped the Blood farms and slowly the city grew again, out of sight and unknown to the vampires. By the time the vampires realized, the walls of the city were rebuilt and it was just barely defensible again. With the disappearance of Kain and the Vampire civil war internal squabbles meant that the vampires were unable to raise an army and mount a serious attempt to retake the city, leaving the humans to rebuild further and almost recapture its past glories. As the vampires fell into an uneasy truce and the War for Nosgoth began, the last of Meridian's fort-settlement defenses to be rebuilt, Sommerdamm, was targeted by the vampire forces and breached.

Location and Layout

 * Sommerdamm - The southern-most of four fort-settlements protecting the bridges to Meridian, Sommerdamm appeared in Nosgoth as a playable location and was the site of the vampires first incursion into the revived Meridian.

Raziel's Clan Territory
Nosgoth would detail more about the history of the location, revealing that Raziel had ordered his clan to abandon their underground city and the Fane beneath the Erebus Mountains to move here in the early years of Kain's empire. After Raziel's execution and Kain's disappearance the other clans, believing they were doing Kain's will, had turned on the Razielim and invaded their territory - dividing the spoils of their conquest ultimately led to conflict and the beginning of the Vampire civil war.

Some time later a group of fledgling Razielim led by Eskandor, who had been covertly stored in the abandoned Fane, returned to the Razielim territory to find it occupied by the Dumahim. Revealing the human victories at Coorhagen seen from the skies on his journey, Eskandor and his brood were spared and the clans called a truce to put down the human resistance and begin the War for Nosgoth.

Ruined City
The "Clan territory of the Dumahim" was briefly mentioned in the Nosgoth background story for the Dumahim Reavers, explaining that in the early Soul Reaver era the area was home to the "eternal forges, where their blacksmiths specialise in crafting the finest armour in Nosgoth."

Vasserbünde
Vasserbünde was briefly mentioned in the background story to Nosgoth, suggesting that in the Soul Reaver era the town still stood, while presumably conquered by the vampires at the fall of the Major human kingdoms and held by the vampires since.

Willendorf
Willendorf was mentioned in the background lore of Nosgoth, presumably like other settlements it was conquered by the vampires of Kain's empire at the fall of the Major human kingdoms. The absence of reports by the Dumahim Reavers stationed in Willendorf suggested that a human uprising had indeed taken place there and this combined with the news of the human victories at Coorhagen brought the enormity of the human revolt to the attention of the vampires and caused the cessation of hostilities within the vampire ranks as the War for Nosgoth began. It was noted that in the wake of the Vampire civil war, Willendorf had rebuilt but did not have a population to rival Meridian.

Willendorf was also close to the site where Malus of the Prophets of the Lost Seers of Avernus discovered the first blood fountain for the humans; presumably indicating the fountain discovered by Kain in the nearby Provincial Mines.

Hinterlands
The Hinterlands were a remote area of Nosgoth mentioned in the backstory of both Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Nosgoth.

Role
The Hinterlands were a location within Nosgoth, implied to be at the very edge of the Nosgothic civilization. The hinterlands were first mentioned in the backstory to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver as an area that the "feral" human populace had retreated to after the destruction of the Major human kingdoms in the early Soul Reaver era.

The Hinterlands were mentioned in the same fashion in the backstory to Nosgoth, as a place across the Great Southern Sea, where humanity had retreated after the destruction of the major human kingdoms and the establishment of Kain's empire. The humans that escaped to the territories beyond the reach of the Vampires managed to flourish and began rebuilding their shattered civilization, soon raising an army to take back the rest of Nosgoth.

By the time of Raziel's return as a wraith in the late Soul Reaver era, the remains of humanity was concentrated in a single settlement at the City, presumably meaning that the hinterlands had been vacated by the humans. At this time it was noted that most of the Turelim clan had retreated to the hinterlands.

Appearances

 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (mentioned only)
 * Nosgoth (mentioned only)

Erebus Mountains
The Erebus Mountains were a mountain range positioned between Coorhagen and Dark Eden. Though appearing on maps and the fringes of the area visible above playable locations, the range was not named until the background story of Nosgoth ' s Fane map provided the title of the range.

Potentially stretching as far south as Malek's Bastion and the Oracle's Cave, the mountains contained within them at least one volcano in the Blood Omen era and the hidden Razielim underground city and its Fane district in the Soul Reaver era.

When secretly attempting to repopulate the Fane in the Vampire civil war, Razielim Elder Lailah was ambushed by a combined force of Dumahim and Zephonim commanded by Jehoel in the mountains.

Iron Pass
The Iron Pass was a high valley in mountainous terrain that was first mentioned in the backstory to Nosgoth and the history of the Hunters and the Ironguard faction. The location was mentioned only in reference to a series of "massacres" which took place some time prior to the early-Soul Reaver era. Some time later, after the destruction of the Major human kingdoms and expulsion of the Humans Vampire hunters to Nosgoth's Hinterlands, they took the name "Ironguard", memorializing the fallen of the Iron Pass.

Later references expanded upon the name revealing that the town of Valeholm, located in the mountains between the Great Southern Lake and the Lake of the Dead, was at the heart of the Iron Pass and home to a solitary tribal culture in the early-Soul Reaver era that had chosen neutrality rather than join with their human brethren at the start of the Kain's conquest of the Major human kingdoms. The inhabitants who did not flee at the coming of the vampire hoard were burnt alive, while those who managed to escape to the Hinterlands took the name "Ironguard" in honor of the fallen.

When the Vampire civil war erupted, Valeholm and the Iron pass were one of the first locations won back by the humans and they were subsequently rebuilt and used as a garrison and headquarters by the Ironguard. But at the coming of the War for Nosgoth, it was also one of the first to be targeted by the vampires and Valeholm was once again set aflame.

Isle of the Dead
The Isle of the Dead was an island and fortress-church off the coast of Meridian somewhere among the Witches' Fingers where the death rituals of the city were organised by the Patriarch of the Waters and his overseers and carried out by the original prisoners of the Drowning Men. It was mentioned in the backstory to the Shield Bearers and Drowning Men of Nosgoth.

When Meridian was attacked in the War for Nosgoth, the Isle was attacked by Razielim troops and the Patriarch, Ancellas, was killed. This drove the overseers and prisoners to take up more defensible positions and weapons and work together to overcome the threat posed - in the process creating the renewed Drowning Men and the class of the Shield Bearers.

Witches' Fingers
The Witches' Fingers were a set of sandbanks and peninsulas off the coast of Meridian where the death rituals of Meridian were carried out by the original Drowning Men. The Isle of the Dead was somewhere nearby.