Control Mind Dungeon

The Control Mind Dungeon
Locations article
The exterior of the Control Mind Keep as it appears in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.
Introduced in	File:Wiki-Icon-BO1.png Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996)
Appearance(s)	File:Wiki-Icon-BO1.png Blood Omen

The Control Mind Dungeon, also known as the Control Mind Keep or Mind Control Dungeon, was a 'dungeon' area in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain that housed the Control Mind spell. Positioned in central Nosgoth in the western area of the Termogent Forest, the structure was visited by Kain in the chapter Vorador's Mansion.

Profile

The Control Mind Keep was a stone tower which was encountered by Kain in the events of Blood Omen of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Shortly after meeting with 'The Oracle' in the Oracle's Cave in the chapter Find the Oracle, Kain traveled southward to the Termogent Forest in the Vorador's Mansion chapter, intending to infiltrate Vorador's Mansion and confer with the elder vampire. On his way south he crossed into the western area of the Termogent Forest and found the Control Mind Keep in the east of the area among a number of other ruined buildings.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

Entering the keep, Kain progressed through to an open area flanked by balconies populated by enemies where he was able to collect the Control Mind item card and use it control the enemy characters into opening the exit and allowing his escape and return to the swamp.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

Kain could also explore the nearby Flame Sword Dungeon and Blood Gout Dungeon before progressing to the eastern end of the forest and entering Vorador's Mansion.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

Design and Layout

The Control Mind Keep (mid right) along with the other ruins and the '3 Keeps' of the Western Termogent Forest

The external appearance of the Control Mind Dungeon consisted of a rectangular keep in the middle-east of the western Termogent Forest area. The design of the building was reminiscent of the other buildings in the western Termogent Forest, such as the Blood Gout Dungeon and the Flame Sword Dungeon, consisting of a dark grey ramparted building complete with crenelation and a flat roof, evocative of a medieval castle-like structure. Unlike its counterparts however, the Control Mind keep was not in a ruined state and seemed largely intact. A tree blocked the doorway in the center of the ground level and three arrowslits could be observed mid way up the building, along with a trapdoor on the western side of the roof.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

The internal area of the keep shared many design features with the other keeps of the western Termogent Forest, with distinctive maroon colored brickwork, marbled red doorways and weapons hanging from the walls.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]} The keep was divided into four map areas:

• The first area consisted of two square rooms side-by-side, with the entry door on the south wall of the eastern room. This room contained a floor mural depicting the Control Mind spell card, was decorated with various weapons on the walls along with a barrel of assorted weaponry and had doors in the eastern and northern walls. The eastern door led through to a similar square room containing a save altar, while the northern door led into the next area of the keep.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

• The next area consisted of a large open room with stepped, tiered balconies on the east west and north sides of the room and a green magic sphere in the center and with both the east and west balconies protected by various enemies and spike pits. At the back of the room an open door led to the third map area and a staircase in the northwest led upto the next tier, where a table covered in entrails was positioned, flanked by another balcony in east containing a wall button and a Red man-at-arms pacing atop a blood rune. A further staircase north led to the the top tier where the Control Mind spell card was positioned on the back wall on top of a Blood rune - along with an invisible secret door leading to the fourth map area.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}
  • This area is the only one of the following rooms that is strictly necessary to enter to complete the keep and it is not even necessary to enter most of the rooms in this area. The other rooms and areas relate purely to Secrets. The keep can be completed simply by entering this area, progressing to the back of this room to gain the Control Mind card, using it to possess the enemy on the balcony to the right of the card and using him to trigger the nearby switch which opened the exit door, allowing Kain to return outside.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}
  • The Western balcony rooms all related to a Secret (#28): Initially two tiers of the balcony were visible, both with a line of Spike pits dividing access from the main room. The higher contained a Red skeleton swordsman and a rune triangle (the secret), with the line of spike pits also dividing access from the lower tier. The lower area contained three Red men-at-arms with a suit of armor on the back wall with a door to the west that could be accessed by using Control Mind on the men-at-arms. The room beyond was decorated with shields and a mace on the wall and featured a narrow trail weaving between Spike pits, with four green Spiked balls acting as obstacles. At the end of the trail in the northwest of the room was a green magic sphere and a wall button which lowered the staircase to the upper tier balcony and the secret.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}
  • The Eastern balcony rooms all related to a Secret (#31): Initially two tiers of the balcony were visible, both with a line of Spike pits dividing access from the main room. The higher contained a Red skeleton swordsman and a blood vial (the secret), with the line of spike pits also dividing access from the lower tier. The lower area contained three Blue peasant swordsmen with a suit of armor on the back wall with a door to the east that could be accessed by using Control Mind on the swordsmen. The room beyond was decorated with a mace and an axe on the wall, with a barrel of weaponry nearby the entrance. A staggered spike pit was placed in the center of the room, with a paving trail leading around the outside of the room passing a red skeleton swordsman in the east and returning to a small platform in the northwest of the room which contained a blood beaker and a wall button which lowered the staircase to the upper tier balcony and the secret.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}
  • The open doorway at the bottom of the lower level in the north led to the third map area and by using the Control Mind spell on the upper right (blood symbol) balcony man at arms to activate that switch a second time a secret door would open at the north above the top tier where the Control Mind card was placed - this led into the fourth map area.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

• The third map area rooms all related to a Secret (#87): Initially only a small lower area was accessible, with an empty balcony to the north along with a locked door and another to the west where two Expert knife throwers were positioned behind a thin line of Spike pits along with a wall button. Possessing on of them and using them to activate the switch lowered a staircase from the northern balcony and opened the door allowing Kain to progress to the next room, which led into the western fork of a 'T' shaped junction with a balcony and line of spike pits to the east just beyond the junction. The southern fork led down into a 'L' shaped corridor, with four Shooters (two either side) and an expert knife thrower as hazards. At the bottom of the corridor was an orange magic sphere and a switch which lowered a spike pit on the upper level behind the balcony, releasing another expert knife thrower who could be possessed from below. The upper level area above the balcony consisted of a small rectangular area with a thin line of spike pits to the south which trapped an expert knife thrower - this was lowered and the knife thrower was released when Kain activated the lower-level switch, allowing him to possess the knife thrower. A narrow corridor extended north from the rectangular room and passed a spinning blade before opening out into a small bare room containing the secret - a single Heart of darkness artifact.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

• The fourth map area rooms related to two Secrets (#29 and #30) which both led to 'backdoor' entrances to Spirit forges: The area initially opened into a small room with a green magic sphere in the center and a sinlge line of spike pits at the back flanked by two decorative weapons on the walls and two barrels of weaponry, surrounded on the west, north and east by balconies, each protected by a single line of spike pits. An expert knife thrower and a red man-at-arms patrolled each side of the balconies and each balcony led upto a door in the north of their respective areas. A narrow strip ran between the balconies, along the north of the room, decorated with two shields on the walls. In the center of this balcony was an alcove protected by a row of spikes which contained a teleporter and a wall button. The northern doors in the side balconies could be accessed by possessing their respective enemies and each led up to an inverted 'L' shape room, populated with enemies and hazards - with the eastern room containing two Skeletons and a number of decorative axes, while the western room contained a number of spike pits, forcing a weaving trail between them and two Shooters positioned at each end of the room and a locked door at the far northern end. At the end of each 'L' corridor was a switch which counted for a secret (#29 for the east and #30 for the west) and when both were activated a stairway lowered in the bottom room, allowing Kain to ascend to the top level. The first teleporter in the alcove on the northern balcony could be accessed by jumping over the spikes using Wolf Form and it acted as a 'backdoor' to the Anti-toxin Spirit forge in the cave next to the Flame Sword Dungeon in the northern Termogent Forest. Alternatively the switch behind the first teleporter could be activated with an Energy Bolt and this opened the locked door in the back of the western 'L' corridor which led to a square room and a telporter surrounded by spikes. Again these could be breached using Wolf form, with the teleporter acting as the 'backdoor' to the Energy Bank Spirit Forge in the crack in the Southwestern Termogent Forest.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/5][Blood Omen/6][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

Notes

The Control Mind Keep (mid right) along with the other ruins and the '3 Keeps' of the Western Termogent Forest

• The Control Mind Dungeon is not named in game but the buildings within the Termogent Forest are repeatedly listed in several sources as "keeps" - with Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain—Official Game Secrets, the official guide to Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain even calling the western area of the forest "The Three Keeps"; referring to the presence of the Flame Sword Dungeon, Control Mind Dungeon and the Blood Gout Dungeon within. In the section dealing with Spirit forges, the keep is directly named as the "Control Mind Dungeon".^{[Blood Omen strategy guide]} Silicon Knights Blood Omen FAQ The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain also uses repeated "keep" and "tower" references and notes the Blood Gout Dungeon as "the centre keep of Vorador's swamp". The Control Mind keep is directly addressed in the guide in the section dealing with Secrets, where it is referred to as the "Mind Control dungeon" - with the sequence perhaps suggesting a renaming of the Control Mind spell.
• The western area of the Termogent Forest containing the Flame Sword Dungeon, Control Mind keep and Blood Gout Dungeon is labelled in files as "Map 0001 Sect 43" and shares the same "Map 0001" designation as the rest of the overland areas of the game, including the eastern Termogent Frost containing Vorador's Mansion which is labelled as "Map 0001 Sect 44". The internal areas of the keep all share the "Map 0025" designation, with "Sect 10" referring to the opening room and save altar, "Sect 00" referring to the open balcony-lined room with the Control Mind card, "Sect 11" referring to the lower hallways area, and "Sect 01" referring to the final area with the Teleporters. The Developers' level select uses the label "CNTL" for the keep under the "OL5" designation, grouping it with the other buildings in the Termogent Forest. The main "OL" doorway under "OL5" also leads to western forest area.^{[Blood Omen]}
• The Control Mind keep features no less than five Secrets - all accessed using the Control Mind spell to possess various enemies to enter side rooms. Two of these are backdoors to nearby Spirit forges. These secrets are labelled in the Developers' level select as "28", "29", "30", "31" and "87" under the "SECR" designations referring to secrets - with "28" referring to the Rune triangle on the western balcony of "Sect 00", "29" referring to the switch in the in the northwest of "Sect01", "30" referring to the switch in the in the northeast of Sect 01" (with both the switches together opening the way for Kain to reach 'backdoor' teleporters to the Anti-Toxin and Energy Bank Spirit forges in the Termogent Forest), "31" referring to the Blood vial on the eastern balcony of "Sect 00" and "87" referring to the Heart of Darkness artifact in the northwest of "Sect 11". If the secrets are not collected then the dungeon is potentially one of the shortest in the game, consisting of a simple spell collection and single use to reopen the entry door.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen strategy guide]}
• Due to the nature of the puzzles within, the Control mind keep features some rare respawning enemies. Usually when Kain kills an enemy and returns to an area, they will return as ghosts. But with the Control Mind spell ineffective on such enemies, the game will simply resurrect them on a return instead. Presumably this is for gameplay purposes and not meant to indicate the immortality of the inhabitants.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen strategy guide]}
• The Control Mind Keep is one of a number of ruined buildings in and around the area of the Termogent Forest, perhaps indicating the area previously contained more expansive evidence of settlement activity. Vorador's Mansion is positioned nearby, as well as the partially ruined structures of Blood Gout Dungeon and Flame Sword Dungeon and a number of smaller unidentified ruined remains.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6]} With the nearby placement of the Soul Reaver 2 swamp location, the wider area is potentially filled with a number of similarly ruined and abandoned buildings such as the Dark Forge and the time streaming chamber.^{[Soul Reaver 2][Soul Reaver 2/3][Soul Reaver 2/5][Soul Reaver 2/7][Soul Reaver 2/9]} Also of note is the similar design of the Mist Form Dungeon on the shores of the nearby Lake of the Dead, itself apparently abandoned to rising waters.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/6]}

Gallery

"grp00031.ctm"

"grp00046.ctm"

"grp00054.ctm"

"grp00132.ctm"

"grp00149.ctm"

"grp00217.ctm"

"grp00218.ctm"

"grp00228.ctm"

"grp00273.ctm"

"grp00378.ctm"

"grp00516.ctm"

"grp00534.ctm"

See also

• Control Mind
• Termogent Forest
• Vorador's Mansion (chapter)
• Flame Sword Dungeon
• Blood Gout Dungeon
• Vorador's Mansion
• Swamp (location)
• Dark Forge (Soul Reaver 2)
• Time Streaming Device (The Swamp)
• Spirit Wrack Dungeon