Air Forge (Soul Reaver 2)

The Air Forge was an elemental Reaver forge encountered by Raziel in Soul Reaver 2. Created by the Ancient Vampires, the forge was located to the west of Janos Audron's Retreat in Nosgoth's northern mountains and was the third forge encountered by Raziel in the game, discovered after meeting with Kain outside the ruined aerie in the Post-Blood Omen era. Completing the puzzle of the forge, Raziel was able to imbue the Wraith Blade with elemental Air, creating the Air Reaver.

Role
As Raziel left the forge he discovered that the Air Reaver could activate Air plinths allowing him to glide to high platforms; and that Reaver bolts from the Air Reaver could destroy cracked barriers. He was ultimately able to use these abilities to breach the cracked door of the time streaming chamber in the Swamp and use it to reach Nosgoth's early history.

Design and Layout

 * The final Light path puzzle chamber in the southeast was a wider and more open chamber, with towers in the southeast and northwest (with Raziel entering beneath the northwest tower), each with second tier platforms around them which could be climbed to from the courtyard floor. The second tier platforms around the southeast tower contained a light reaver font and a shadow bridge leading across to the opposite (northwest) second tier platform where a dark reaver font could be found along with a simple archway which could be scaled. Another face sculpture in the top of the northwestern tower blew air across the top of the room toward the high opening in the southeastern tower where Raziel could gain the Green heart.

Connections
From the main core forge chamber ("Air20")
 * The top eastern door (and hole above it) leads through a Z-shaped corridor ("Air2") and entrance mural room ("Air1") to the exterior facade of the forge ("Janos9") and a passage ("Janos8") leading to the lake beneath Janos Audron's Retreat ("Janos7").
 * the bottom northern opening leads down a wide curving passage ("Air13") to the green stone head chamber ("Air 14")
 * The bottom north-northeastern scaling wall leads up to a Reaver sealed door and a small chamber ("Air21") leading to the Blue heart puzzle room ("Air11")
 * the bottom east-southeastern opening leads down a wide curving passage ("Air15") to the red stone head chamber ("Air 16")
 * The bottom south-southeastern scaling wall leads up to a Light sealed door and a small chamber ("Air22") leading to the Green heart puzzle room ("Air6")
 * the bottom southwestern opening leads down a wide curving passage ("Air17") to the blue stone head chamber ("Air 18")
 * The bottom western scaling wall leads up to a Dark sealed door and a small chamber ("Air4") leading to the Red heart puzzle room ("Air8")

Background
The Air Forge was also one of the first playable sections of Soul Reaver 2 completed - initially the area was finished for the cancelled Dreamcast version before the title was moved to the PlayStation 2,  and on the newer platform the level would be released to the public as it was made available through several video trailers and a playable PlayStation 2 demo. A great number of features were changed between this and the retail version, revealing behind the scenes information about the development of the Air Forge and Soul Reaver 2 itself - though it is unclear which features may have been implemented purely for demonstration purposes. Changed features include: the layout of the forge (which features only the central core, blue face/puzzle route and adjoining chambers), open doorways with no Emblem keys, no Checkpoints, different enemies (including Sarafan warrior pikemen and rats from the Sarafan Stronghold, extra Sluagh (SR2) and Greater Sluagh, Swordsmen thralls in place of Shades (SR2) and Sorcerer thralls in place of swordsmen - some of which have green or black Blood), A different combat and feeding balance, a 'crossed swords' combat HUD icon and smaller target dot, a 'charged' Wraith Blade finishing move (as in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver), inaccessible placeholder 'dot' symbols for the World map and other Glyphs on the Ring menu, a different colored Compass, different on-screen prompts, a strikingly different night sky above the forge with a much larger moon and clouds which are visibly altered by Spectral Realm effects, and quicker cutscenes with different angles (including a new introductory 'title' cutscene featuring Raziel performing a combo which transitions to the Soul Reaver 2 logo and several explanatory screens backed by images of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver action figures).

Appearances

 * Soul Reaver 2