Janos Audron's Retreat

Janos Audron's Retreat, also known as Janos Audron's Aerie, was the mountainside fortress and home of the infamous Vampire Janos Audron, situated in the mountains north of Uschtenheim and playable as one of the main locations of Soul Reaver 2. The ruins of Janos's Retreat were first discovered by Raziel whilst seeking evidence of Janos in the Post-Blood Omen era and later, after travelling to Nosgoth's early history he was able to enter the fortress, ascending through it to meet with the ancient vampire a short time before his demise in the final stages of the title.

Role
Though legends of the Janos Audron and the Heart of Darkness were mentioned in Blood Omen - relating how Janos preyed on the villagers of Uschtenheim until his death at the hands of the Sarafan - the lair of Janos himself was not encountered or specifically referenced until Soul Reaver 2 where the retreat was a significant playable location and one of the main areas on the map, shown as encompassing a small area north-east of the village of Uschtenheim.

When Raziel recounted the legend of Janos upon viewing a mural in the Sanctuary area of the Sarafan Stronghold in Chapter 1: A Reaver in Time he noted that "he lived high in the cliffs of Nosgoth’s northern mountains, and preyed mercilessly on the defenseless villagers below". Later meeting with Vorador in Chapter 3: Through the Swamp Raziel was persuaded that Janos Audron was the key to his destiny, but was unable to to press north towards Uschtenheim until he arrived in the Demon-infested Post-Blood Omen era in Chapter 5: A Fateful Meeting, a century after the collapse of the Pillars. Passing through the ruins of Uschtenheim, Raziel commented that "If there was any truth to the old tales, the lair of the infamous vampire could not be far away" and proceeding further into the northern mountains beyond Uschtenheim, Raziel found the ruins of the high aerie shortly after, overlooking a wide Water-filled Canyon - though much of the external structure had collapsed, a large winged sculpture was still visible beneath a high balcony attesting to the winged nature of its architects. After briefly conversing with Kain beneath the aerie, Raziel followed a passage further into the mountains where he discovered the nearby Air Forge and was able to imbue the Air Reaver allowing him to gain entry to a ruined Time Streaming Chamber in the Swamp to return to Nosgoth's early history.

After arriving in the Swamp Raziel returned to Janos's retreat in Chapter 8: Vampire Interview finding it still "intact and unblemished" in this era. Using an entrance in the Spectral Realm beneath the base of the retreat Raziel was able to enter the structure through a submerged passage, finding the entire mountain was hollow, and being designed for the winged Ancient Vampires, its dizzying heights prevented access to those not gifted with flight. The high balconies of the retreat provided a large vertical puzzle requiring Raziel to use all of the Reaver enhancements he had previously gained to gradually ascend the level of the retreat by creating a number of Bloodstone bridges (and significantly blasting open a cracked opening at the base of the retreat in the Material Realm) to finally reach the highest level and Janos' balcony chambers. Finally meeting the "priest-like" Ancient vampire, Janos tried to give Raziel the Reaver blade, but their meeting was interrupted by the attacking Sarafan warrior inquisitors who had taken advantage of Raziel's handiwork to breach the retreat, armed with Moebius' staff.

Janos teleported Raziel to the nearby Fire Forge chamber, where Raziel was able to imbue the Fire Reaver and return to Janos' chamber just in time to see his former human self murder Janos and rip out the Heart of Darkness. The Sarafan brothers quickly fled taking The Reaver and the Heart of Darkness with them. As Raziel left the retreat it collapsed entirely, forming the ruins that Raziel encountered in the Nosgoth's future.

Design and Layout
In Soul Reaver 2, Raziel approached Janos's retreat from the south, from a series of passage beyond Uschtenheim that eventually reached an open lake-like expanse of Water overlooked by Janos's retreat. The area immediately outside the retreat was dominated by the unnamed lake area, with several platforms dotted across it (some of which contained ruins of staircases hinting at larger constructions bridging the lake in ages past) and a rocky passage in the west led up to a higher platform. Alongside this, three small 'mini-aerie' constructions were placed at accessible heights around the outside of the lake - two in the northeast and north west contained Reaver fonts while the third in the south led down a small staircase towards the Uschtenheim area. The retreat itself was built into a rocky protrusion in the north of the area, with a high domed balcony (Janos's chamber) decorated by a large winged sculpture beneath, apparently carved into the rock. When Raziel first arrived in the Post-Blood Omen era, the retreat itself was ruined and collapsed (with none of the internal rooms of the fortress present) and the area was much darker, lit by numerous metal lanterns. With the retreat inaccessible at this time Raziel was forced to use the western platform, where in this time period the cliff face had eroded through and led up through a twisting series of passages and Scalable walls towards the west to a 'mini-aerie' and plateau containing the facade of the Air Forge.

Behind the large wooden double doors, a corridor zigzagged south-west-south before reaching another set of (hand activated) wooden doors, which led into Janos private chambers. This room appeared much more 'homely' and 'warmer' than the surrounding areas with none of the ice seen in other areas and several lanterns positioned around the chamber as well as an open fireplace. The room consisted of a large broadly rectangular chamber with an arched roof, a bench in the center and an open balcony to the south overlooking the lake below. Along the eastern wall several bloodstone constructions were seen along with depictions of the Reaver and the Reaver itself was placed in an icon marked box here; immediately to the south of was a large basin filled with Blood and two sculptures resembling goats. The western wall of the chamber contained several bookcases but was largely dominated by the open fireplace and chimney, with a depiction of a bearded figure above the mantelpiece (somewhat resembling other similar unexplained figures in the textures of the retreat) and the fireplace itself flanked by two busts of Janos Audron himself on small plinths. To the north lay the entrance leading to the main inner sanctum, but stairways in the northeast and northwest led upto to a passage above leading north into the Fire Forge, an open chamber decked with many sculptures and stained glass windows where Raziel would gain the Fire Reaver.

Connections
From the lake outside Janos's retreat ("Janos7")
 * The southern passage leads through several mountain passes ("Janos6" and "Janos5") to Uschtenheim ("Janos4") and onwards to the rest of southern Nosgoth.
 * The western passage (accessible only in the Post-Blood Omen era) leads up through several mountain passes to the ("Janos8" and "Janos9") to a door leading into the Air Forge entrance chamber ("Air1") for the main Air Forge.
 * the underwater northern opening (accessible only in the Spectral Realm in Nosgoth's early history) leads through a submerged passage ("Janos17"/"Janos171") surfacing in a small pool in the smaller of the hollow mountain rooms ("Janos11") - a corridor at the top level of this room ("Janos12") leads to the inner sanctum ("Janos98").
 * the ground-level northern opening (accessible only in Nosgoth's early history through a Cracked door on the inside) leads up through a series of bending snowy passages ("Janos15" and "Janos16") to the second level of the smaller hollow mountain room ("Janos11") - a corridor at the top level of this room ("Janos12") leads to the inner sanctum room ("Janos98").
 * The high northern balcony (accessible only in Nosgoth's early history from the inside of the retreat) leads to Janos's chambers (counted as part of "Janos7") which contains a high sealed doorway leading into the Fire Forge ("Fire3", "Fire2" and "Fire1") and a low doorway leading through a corridor ("Janos14" and "Janos13") to the top of the inner sanctum room ("Janos98") - a corridor at the second level of this room ("Janos12") leads to the smaller hollow mountain room ("Janos11")

Appearances

 * Soul Reaver 2