Vorador's Signet Ring

"Turning the ring over in my hands, I realized that it was crafted from some strange alloy formed from broken teeth - ground down and soaked in blood."

- Kain

Vorador's Signet Ring was a magical ring bearing one of Vorador's seals. It was given by Vorador to Kain at their first meeting, during the Blood Omen era, and allowed Kain to summon Vorador to his side. It first appeared in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and has since appeared in all Legacy of Kain media, with the exception of Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2.

Role
"Good. Take this ring. If you ever need assistance it will summon me. Despite your youthful arrogance, you amuse me, Kain - it would be such a pity to lose you to the Abyss. Now be gone!"

- Vorador

During his quest to destroy the corrupt Circle of Nine in the Blood Omen era, Kain faced a stalemate against Malek, the unliving Guardian of the Pillar of Conflict. On advice from the Oracle of Nosgoth, Kain traveled to the Termogent Forest to seek out Malek's ancient adversary, the reclusive vampire Vorador. Kain reasoned that Vorador was probably the key to defeating the Conflict Guardian.

Tracking down his quarry in Vorador's Mansion, Kain was initially daunted by the elder vampire, considering his visage - "a vision of what [he] was becoming" - "worse than Hell". However, Vorador was congenial, and "prattled on about his past", offering his account of the slaughter of the Circle he initiated in Nosgoth's early history, in response to the vampire purge which the Circle had sponsored.

Kain initially dismissed Vorador's ideals - that vampires were gods, and humans inferior beings - but knew, deep down, that he was right. Vorador pedagogically instructed Kain not to meddle "in the affairs of man", but had grown fond of the fledgling. Concerned for Kain's safety, he gave him his Signet Ring, assuring him that "if you ever need assistance it will summon me". Examining it, Kain realized that it was "crafted from some strange alloy formed from broken teeth - ground down and soaked in blood".

Kain used the Ring only once: at Dark Eden, he summoned Vorador to battle Malek while he pursued Bane and DeJoule. By the end of his quest, with Vorador's death at the hands of Moebius's mercenary army, the Ring was presumably useless, in practical terms. However, it retained symbolic value. Kain had fully embraced Vorador's philosophy by then: vampires were "dark gods" whose duty was "to thin the herd". By the Soul Reaver era, he wore the Ring on his left ear - a reminder of his old mentor. He sported it all throughout his attempts to reclaim his original destiny and restore the Pillars of Nosgoth to the vampires.

Background
Vorador's Signet Ring was not present in Arnold Ayala's initial drawings for Kain in Shifter and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The idea to include it in that game and beyond was conceived later in development by Crystal Dynamics artist Daniel Cabuco, and approved by former series director Amy Hennig. Cabuco elaborated that "I wanted to tie Kain back into BO1 somehow and I drew his model sheet with Vorador's ring. Amy liked the idea and we moved forward with it. It beat Kain in the Chaos Armor Boxer Shorts idea".

An early Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver GlyphX render of Kain, depicting him in the Vitruvian pose, includes what appears to have been a placeholder for, or an early version of, the Signet Ring.

Appearances

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