Avernus Cathedral



As the handsome coffin hides the putrefying corpse within, the great Cathedral of Avernus seemed to hold its own secrets, hidden in the catacombs beneath its vaulted chambers. - Raziel

Avernus cathedral, also known as The Great Cathedral of Avernus, was the focal point of the city of Avernus and the centre of worship for the religion of the inhabitants. Unknown to most, the catacombs beneath the cathedral were home to a different type of worship, that ofHash'ak'gik Cult. The Cathedral was a playable location in Blood Omen and Defiance.

The history of the Cathedral is murky at best; there were Ancient Vampire and Hylden ruins on the site and the catacombs were possibly once the site of a Hylden stronghold, as the walls had murals depicting past events from the Hylden point of view.

The matriarch of the city and owner of the cathedral, Azimuth was instructed to use atime streaming device she had stolen from Moebius to bring Turel back from around 2000 years in the future. Turel, possessed intermittantly by various other Hylden was then used an impressive mouthpiece by the Hash'ak'gik cult to command their human followers, eventually seducing key members of the Circle itself and allowing the Hylden to possess Mortanius so that they could use him to murder Ariel and set the Corruption in motion.

Kain first visited the Cathedral in Blood Omen when he went after Azimuth to cleanse the pillar of dimension. Advised by Ariel that he would have to "rise and fall and find [his] salvation in between" Kain travelled to Avernus to find the city in flames and being attacked by demons, but none of the devastation outside touched the Cathedral, which was apparently the source. Kain entered the Cathedral to find that it was split into three realms which were navigated between by teleporters: Alongside the normal Cathedral interior was 'heavenly' realm which was decked with bright cloud imagery; and a 'hell' realm which was dark and foreboding with a bloody, skeletal theme (this was later revealed to be the Catacombs .) Hidden inside the catacombs, Kain found Hash'ak'gik's Altar and his first clue as to who was responsible for the corruptiuon of the pillars.

In the 'heavenly' realm Kain found and claimed the legendary Soul Reaver Blade, before descending into the 'hell' realm to find the Wraith Armor , both of these items would come in useful against Azimuth who, when confronted, summoned Demons to combat Kain. When he was within range, a single strike of the Soul Reaver was sufficient to Kill Azimuth. Claiming her pillar token; her Third Eye Pandant ; along with the time streaming device she had stolen from Moebius. Kain immediately realised what Azimuith had been intending to do with the device, but did not realise that she had used it already, or why it was his salvation (it would later save him from the battle of the last stand .)

In Defiance, shortly afterward, Raziel, on the advice of Vorador arrived at the cathedral looking for the Heart of Darkness so that he could resurrect Janos Audron. Raziel found the Ancient vampire ruins and was able to enter the Earth Forge and imbue the Wraith blade to become the Earth Reaver. This allowed Raziel to pass through a portal and enter the 'hellish' Catacombs, where he found evidence of Hylden involvement in the secret religion of Avernus and their side of the Elder Wars and 'dual champion' prophecy. Now virtually convinced he was the Hylden champion, Raziel ran into Mortanius who was worshipping Hash'ak'gik along with a group of cenobites, curious to see the entity, Raziel was telekinatically dragged into the pit with it to find that it was his monsterously (d)evolved brother, Turel. Battling with possession by the Hylden, Turel needed blood to gather the strength to get rid of them, not aware that Raziel was no longer a creature of flesh and blood, he attacked his brother but was defeated.(finally gifting Raziel the Amplified Force Projectile ability) Raziel got the chance to talk to Mortanius, intermittently possessed by The Hylden Lord, who told him that he had placed the Heart of Darkness inside Kain to turn him into a vampire in the first place, believing he was creating the vampire champion.

The Elder Kain, however, had travelled through time, worried about what would happen if Raziel found the Heart and followed Raziel inside the Cathedral. As Raziel left, he found Kain entering the Cathedral. Supposedly fulfilling the prophecy of the champions final battle, Raziel attacked Kain and won, tearing the heart out of Kain and leaving him to die before returning to Vorador's Mansion to bring Janos back to life.

Kain would later wake in the Demon Realm, finding himself in Turel's pit assailed by demons. He was able to escape and return to the Material Realm and after battling his way out of the Cathedral, Kain returned to the Vampire Citadel, feeling the pull of the Spirit Forge.