Hylden Lord

"Did it not occur to you that perhaps my cause, and not yours, is the cause of right? Of justice? That your ambition to rule this world is but the youthful craving of a petty noble who has gained too much power, but never enough."

- The Hylden Lord

The Hylden Lord, alternatively known as the Dark Entity, the Unspoken, the Sarafan Lord, Hash'ak'gik or the Hylden General, is the primary antagonist of both Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2, and a major antagonist in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Initially introduced in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain as the malevolent force in control of Mortanius, his ambitions and motives against the Circle of Nine are further explored throughout successive installments.

As the leader of the militant Hylden trapped within the Demon Realm by the original Circle of Nine, the Hylden Lord orchestrated the murder of Ariel in an effort to topple the Pillars of Nosgoth, thereby attaining both freedom and vengeance. Following the fatal paradox created by Raziel and Kain in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, the Hylden Lord succeeded in escaping into the Material Realm, reviving the Sarafan Order and attempting to conquer Nosgoth entirely. However, he was slain by Kain at the Hylden City before his plan could reach its fruition.

Pre-Blood Omen era
Prior to the Blood Omen era, the Dark Entity utilized human possession to seduce the Guardians Mortanius and Azimuth to his cause through the Avernus Catacombs; he and his followers attracted a considerable number of worshipers in their travels. Pulling the Vampire Turel "from the future back to the bowels of Avernus Cathedral" through Azimuth, the Dark Entity utilized his new captive as a "dark god", inciting fearful worship and forming the Cult of Hash'ak'gik.

Over many years, the cult blossomed and spread, and the Dark Entity managed to possess Mortanius himself. Mortanius' seduction provided him the opportunity he sought; in a deliberately calculated move, he murdered the Balance Guardian Ariel through Mortanius' body, bypassing the Circle's protector Malek by using a Guardian to commit the deed. When Ariel's lover, Nupraptor, found her corpse, he plunged into abject madness inspired by his own grief and suspicion, symbiotically driving his fellow Guardians to insanity and invoking the Corruption of the Pillars.

Blood Omen era (Blood Omen and Defiance)
Over the ensuing thirty years, the Dark Entity maintained his hold over Mortanius, though his control was not constant - at one point, Mortanius was able to assert his own will, hiring assassins to murder the human nobleman Kain and subsequently reviving him as a Vampire. Against the Dark Entity's will, Mortanius - now in direct conflict with the Unspoken - guided Kain in a quest to slaughter the corrupt Guardians and restore the Pillars so a new Circle of Nine could rise to replace the old, thereby correcting the imbalance. Kain gleaned little information regarding the forces behind the Pillars' corruption during his quest, finding only a few references to the Cult of Hash'ak'gik in the Library of Willendorf and Hash'ak'gik's Altar in Avernus Cathedral.

After witnessing the execution of Vorador and killing Moebius, Kain was summoned to the Pillars for a final confrontation with Mortanius. When Kain defeated the Necromancer, the Dark Entity emerged, transforming Mortanius' body into a demonic form and taunting Kain on his role; he claimed his "silencing of Ariel was but the first act in his theater of Grand Guignol". Angered, Kain battled and defeated the transformed body of Mortanius, but the Dark Entity itself was far beyond his reach. Moments later, Kain would play right into its hands by refusing to sacrifice himself to restore the Pillars, thus instigating their collapse.

Post-Blood Omen era
Using the body of Janos Audron to open the Hylden Gate, the Hylden Lord was able to bring his natural Hylden body to the Material Realm and set about restoring the Hylden to power. Building (or re-inhabiting) the Hylden City, the Hylden Lord was able to set up a Hylden base in Nosgoth and planning to use the Device to destroy all non-Hylden life in Nosgoth, the Hylden Lord imprisoned Janos in the Device, draining him of Blood to feed the Mass. At a time of increased Vampire activity in Nosgoth,with the rise of Kain's Vampire Army, The Hylden General, disguising his Hylden features behind gold armor and a face-mask, and calling himself "The Sarafan Lord", capitalized on the Humans fear and set up a new Sarafan Order (deliberately named after the old one) dedicated to eliminating the vampires, bringing with him Glyph magic to fight them. Many humans flocked to join and soon the Sarafan Order had become a power in its own right.

When Kain's Army turned south and attempted to take Meridian, The Sarafan Lord was ready; he had in his possession the Nexus Stone, an artefact that rendered its user impervious to attacks by the Soul Reaver, in addition he had secretly conspired with one of Kain's associates, Sebastian, to arrange an ambush; a failed assassination attempt of the Sarafan Lord by Kain's 'champion', Magnus (which ended with the Sarafan Lord sending Magnus to the Eternal Prison) would also cost Kain dear. In the Battle of Meridian, Kain's forces were routed by the Sarafan Lord's ambush and Kain was locked in combat with the Lord himself. Unable to use the power of the Soul Reaver against him, Kain was defeated by the Sarafan Lord and knocked off a cliff to his apparent death The Sarafan Lord recovered the Soul Reaver and in the years that followed, the Sarafan Order was able to conquer Nosgoth completely; controlling the majority of the humans under a tyrannical rule and reducing Vampire numbers to a small resistance movement, the Cabal, in Meridian. Meanwhile under the guise of the of providing heat, light and power for it's citizens, the Glyphwrights (actually Hylden Scientists) carried out the next phase of the Hylden Lord's plans; building a network to project the thoughts of the Mass onto and complete the Device.

Blood Omen 2 era
By the time of Kain's return, the Sarafan, headed by the Sarafan Lord, were in firm conrtol of Nosgoth and especially Meridian and Glyph magic network (required by The Device) was nearly complete. Kain made clear early on that his goals were to kill the Sarafan Lord, recover the Soul Reaver and return to his plans for Empire and he made no secret pursuing them, despite this, the Sarafan Lord only became aware of Kain's return when Kain's rescue of Umah from the Sarafan Keep disturbed him. Armed with the Reaver and easily overpowering Kain, The Sarafan Lord prepared to strike Kain down, but Umah intervened, teleporting the vampires to Sanctuary.

The Sarafan Lord was next seen leading a Sarafan group in the Canyons, apparently targeting the meeting between Kain and The Seer at the Seer's Cottage. As the two met, The Sarafan Lord fired a Reaver Bolt at the Cottage and ordered several Sarafan Archers to set the house ablaze (though The Seer managed to teleport Kain to the Device and probably escaped herself). The Sarafan Lord, having not directly seen Kain, remained unaware of Kain's recovery of the Nexus Stone from the Industrial Quarter. As Kain continued, he learnt much more about the Sarafan Lord learning first of the true fate of Magnus at the Lords hands and finally learning from Janos Audron of the Sarafan Lord's true nature as a "Hylden General".

When Kain travelled to the Hylden City, the Sarafan Lord (appropriately unmasked) confronted Kain, attempting to strike him with the Reaver, but he was shocked to discover Kain's possession of the Nexus Stone prevented this and as Kain gloated over his destruction of The Device, The Sarafan Lord threatened his next move; bringing the Hylden army through the Hylden Gate; before teleporting away. Once Kain had deactivated the Shield Generator, allowing Vorador and Janos to teleport in, the Hylden General struck again hitting Janos and Vorador with Reaver Bolts and taking them out of the final battle. Kain finally caught up with The Hylden General above the Hylden Gate and the two fought (after the Sarafan Lord denied Umah was a Sarafan spy), with an effective stalemate, Kain chose to give drop the Nexus Stone into the Hylden Gate; giving up his protection but ensuring the gate would be closed and all Hylden, including the Hylden Lord, would perish. After Kain repeatedly used Immolate on the Hylden General, he dropped the Soul Reaver and intervention from Janos allowed Kain to recover the blade; seething at his ancient enemy, the Hylden General threw Janos into the closing gate, sealing him in the Demon Realm. With No Nexus Stone to protect him (unlike the Battle of Meridian) the Hylden General was no match for Kain wielding the Soul Reaver and Kain was finally able to kill the Hylden Lord (see also Sarafan Lord (boss)). With his last words however, the Hylden Lord pledged that the Hylden would one day return.