Lake of Tears

"The mists that shrouded this lake miraculously now cleared away, revealing an ancient citadel. So Moebius had not lied. Or perhaps this was simply another of the Time Streamer's illusions, meant to slow my true endeavor."

- Kain

The Lake of Tears was the largest inland body of water featured in maps of Nosgoth, first introduced in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Bordered on the west by mountains and situated near the Pillars of Nosgoth, it was the westernmost point that has been encountered in the series. The lake cannot be visited in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, but was fed by the waterfall stemming from Nupraptor's Retreat, and the resultant (accessible) river which flowed through and south of Vasserbünde.

In the Soul Reaver era, the Drowned Abbey was geographically adjacent to, if not upon, the lake - west of the Sanctuary of the Clans. During Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Raziel traversed a river valley using a stagnant ship in the Rahabim clan territories: the area may have been an inlet of the Lake of Tears.

While not explicitly identified in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, it is almost certain that the Lake of Tears is the misty expanse which harbored the Vampire Citadel. In the fourth timeline, Moebius instructed Kain to travel west of the Pillars when directing him to the Citadel: the Lake of Tears is the only body of water in this area. Using the Balance Emblem, Kain was able to dispel the mists shrouding the Citadel from view. During the Blood Omen era, Raziel and Janos Audron witnessed the destruction of the Pillars from across the lake, and Kain gazed out solemnly across its moors after battling the Elder God.