- "Coorhagen, my home, the finest city in all of Nosgoth, rich in vanity and conceit. I had no delusions as to the welcome I would receive."
- ―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]
Coorhagen was a major human settlement that was visited by Kain in the course of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The town was located north of Vasserbünde and north east of Malek's Bastion. Kain passed through the settlement on his way to Malek's Bastion in the chapter "The Hunt for Malek". It was notably Kain's hometown before his murder.
Profile[]
Coorhagen was the city of Kain's human birth and was visited by Kain in the Blood Omen era in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The city was situated in northern Nosgoth, north of Vasserbünde and Kain returned to return to Coorhagen during the chapter "The Hunt for Malek" as he made his way north to Malek's Bastion.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][Blood Omen strategy guide][1][2][3]
By the time he returned to Coorhagen he found the city had been overrun by the Plague in his absence, which had ravaged the city, leaving carts full of bodies littering the streets and blocking many of the paths through the city. Kain consequently Kain had to use a maze of underground chambers and dungeons to progress. Underground Kain could find the Repel Dungeon and the Bone Armor Dungeon - and he could optionally discover the Inspire Hate Dungeon. He also found his first Pentalich of Tarot and Anti-Toxin artifacts.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][Blood Omen strategy guide]
After leaving the city, Kain could follow the trail further north to an isolated bat beacon in a snowy landscape that allowed passage to Malek's Bastion by way of bat flight.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][Blood Omen strategy guide]
- "Death and disease stalked these streets. Bodies lay, most in the very spots in which fate had taken them. A perfect homecoming."
- ―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]
Apocrypha[]
Materials from the cancelled multiplayer Nosgoth suggested that the town continued to exist into the events of Soul Reaver and that in the early years of Kain's empire, the town was controlled by the Vampires and was home to a number of human blood-farms and breeding-pens, beneath a colossus in the form of Kain himself.[NOS][4][5][6][7]
As such a strategic target, the town was among the first areas attacked by humans in the War for Nosgoth - and the discovery of its sacking was the catalyst that ended the Vampire civial war and reunited the clans in the face of the resurgent human threat. The secret underground Razelim city the Fane was also situated nearby Coorhagen in the mountains east of the settlement.[NOS][4][5][6][7]
Design and Layout[]
In the Blood Omen era the Coorhagen area generally consists of a large clearing in a heavily wooded area hemmed in by a set of cliffs to the south. The buildings of the town were made up of cobbled stone walls and timber frames with tiled roofs, with most densely packed around the clearing and with muddy paths connecting them.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
Coorhagen is one of Nosgoth's largest cities at the time of Blood Omen with 52 discrete buildings: however few can be entered and most that are accessible are linked to the underground dungeons found in the area. Numerous corpses and debris could be found strewn through the streets and many were blocked by carts or piles of bodies, hindering progress through the town, making several paths inaccessible and necessitating visits to a series of underground dungeons to pass through.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
The southern path entering Coorhagen was preceded by a building just outside the map area which served as something of a 'gatehouse' to the main town. This trail lead into the south of the city and the first accessible area - which consisted of a trail leading upto the Repel Dungeon and a side path leading to a pair of houses.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
After exiting the Repel dungeon, Kain emerged in a pathway in the center of town which led by an unnamed tavern and another inaccessible home before heading into the Bone Armor Dungeon.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
The exit of the Bone Armor led out to the southeast of the town, where a path led northward along the east of the settlement. The pathway branched into a Y-shape with two trails continuing northward and the western on containing an an unmamed blacksmith. At the branch of the trail an open doorway led down into the the complex of the Inspire Hate Dungeon, however it was possible to miss the entrance to the dungeon proper an emerge from the underground passages in the final above ground section of the town.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][Blood Omen strategy guide]
The exit of the Inspire Hate underground complex led out to a small square in the north of town where another accessible home could be entered - this one with a unique basement. From here the trail led northward out of town and upto a pair of signs and a bat beacon highlighting the way to Malek's Bastion.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
Businesses and Landmarks[]
- Two businesses can be made out by their signs, both are accessible but neither is named. One is a tavern in the centre of the town and the other is a blacksmith in the north-east.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- Three Dungeons can be found linking houses underground.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- The Repel Dungeon links the open building in the west of central Coorhagen to an building in the centre of town, bridging the first and second overland sections.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- The Bone Armor Dungeon links the north-east open building to the south-east open building, bridging the second and third overland sections.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- The Inspire Hate Dungeon links the large building in the centre of the north east square to one of the buildings in the north of the town, bridging the third to the final overland section of the town.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- Five additional houses can be entered. The first is just outside the map area of the town, a pair are encountered in succession in the south of the town, one in the north of the second section between the tavern and the Bone armor dungeon, and the last in the far north of town nearby the exit of the town.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- The Font of Putrescence Spirit Forge can be found in a moon gated cave on the trail just before the entrance to Coorhagen.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- Three Secrets can be found in the area nearby Coorhagen. The Inspire Hate Dungeon and the Font of Putrescence Spirit forge both count as secrets. The third secret is found in a fork in the trail to the south near the exit of Vasserbünde in a spur which is blocked by a stone requiring a mace to break.[8]
- A bat beacon can be found in the region north of Coorhagen.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
Behind the scenes[]
The version of Coorhagen seen in the alpha versions of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain externally appears to be quite similar to its retail counterpart, with some minor changes to house design, signage and the enemies encountered.[9][10] There are however a number of more significant changes around the town and in its underground dungeons:
- The forked trail in the section south of Coorhagen contains a dead end and a secret in retail. In the alpha the trail continues off screen and joins up with an exit to Nupraptor's Retreat high on the cliffs that is not present in retail. Part of the trail can be seen - but not accessed - into the retail version, but the exit from Nupraptor's will make Kain use Bat Form to return to the Pillars instead.[9][10]
- The Font of Putrescence spirit forge has a simpler square shaped entry way and there is lacking the moon gate seen in retail.[9][10]
- The Repel Dungeon is present and of a similar design but does not contain the Repel spell. Instead a pair of deleted spells are gained - Force Shield and Magic Absorb. A different original Repel Dungeon is encountered later in the game on the path to Dark Eden.[9][10][11][12]
- The Bone Armor Dungeon is similar to its retail counterpart with only minor changes such as switch design.[9][10]
- The Inspire Hate Dungeon is not an optional secret in the alpha and is instead a compulsory part of the level that must be completed to progress. The progress through Coorhagen flows directly to and from the entrance and exit of the dungeon with no choice to go elsewhere. Some of its rooms are rearranged or changed.[9][10]
- Some house interiors are altered or have their theme changed.[9][10]
- At least one extra house interior - which is present in the files but not connected to the game world - can be found in the alpha which may be connected to Coorhagen. It features a house with a frozen icy interior with a climate and room numbering which places it somewhere close to the area. The room is deleted in later builds.[9][10]
- The bat beacon area north of Coorhagen is altered. In the alpha there is more snow and a plain flat tundra, where retail presents the area with mud patches and cliffs surrounding the beacon.[9][10]
Notes[]
- "Years ago, word reached us of a strange pestilence that had laid siege to a few remote villages far east. But the rumors failed to prepare us for the horror that was the Plague."
- ―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]
- Kain comments on the Plague that seized Coorhagen as he entered, noting that it had ravaged a few remote villages far east. It is not known which villages these were and no other Nosgothic settlement seen so far exhibits any sign of the plague. Some fans have speculated that there is a link between the plague seen in Coorhagen and the creatures seen in Dark Eden; as the ruined settlements on the path to Dark Eden are possible candidates for former 'Plague Villages'.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4]
- It is likely that Kain's presence in Ziegsturhl at the start of Blood Omen was because he was fleeing the plague that had seized Coorhagen. The Plague also made Kain's visit to his next target, Malek's Bastion, that bit more difficult, as Kain could not feed on tainted blood in Coorhagen, or the magical Blood in the Bastion.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][Blood Omen strategy guide]
- As Kain himself notes, Coorhagen was loyal to Willendorf and many tapestries had Ottmar's Lion sigil on them.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][Blood Omen strategy guide]
- Coorhagen has some interesting floor murals; as well as many which appear to represent death and there is a prominent 'grim reaper' mural. Along with this, there is a mural of the Iron Sword, which given the nature of 'power-up' related murals in Blood Omen may suggest that the Iron Sword was meant to be collected by Kain in Coorhagen - and this may also imply that in early versions, Kain was meant to start the game here. However none of the currently known alpha and beta builds support these suggestions and they remain speculative.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][13]
- Coorhagen is one of the few areas where the ghost enemies can be discovered. In the final game the class is exceeding rare and is only found in the basements outside the Inspire Hate Dungeon, but prototype builds reveal that the class was originally intended to be more widespread with them notably found in the graveyards surrounding the early version of the Energy Bolt Dungeon.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/4][9][10]
Gallery[]
Maps[]
Retail[]
Alpha[]
Tileset[]
Interactive Map[]
Videos[]
See also[]
- Coorhagen at Dark Chronicle (by Ardeth Silvereni).
- The Hunt for Malek
- Repel Dungeon
- Force Shield and Magic Absorb Dungeon at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- Bone Armor Dungeon
- Inspire Hate Dungeon
- Malek's Bastion
- Plague
- The Shield and Other Mysteries at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
References[]
- ↑ Blood Omen - Map of Nosgoth at Nosgothic Realm (by Tenaya)
- ↑ Blood Omen - Map of Nosgoth at Dark Chronicle (by Ardeth Silvereni)
- ↑ The (almost) definitive Legacy of Kain maps thread at the Eidos Forums (by Shrykull/Bazielim) (preserved at Cult of Hash'ak'gik)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Fall of the Razielim Part 1 at the Nosgoth official blog (by George Kelion) (preserved at Tales of Nosgoth/Nosgothic Realm)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Fall of the Razielim Part 2 at the Nosgoth official blog (by George Kelion) (preserved at Tales of Nosgoth/Nosgothic Realm)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Fall of the Razielim Part 3 at the Nosgoth official blog (by George Kelion) (preserved at Tales of Nosgoth/Nosgothic Realm)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 'The Fane – Lost city of the Razielim' at the Nosgoth official blog (by Bill Beacham) (preserved at Tales of Nosgoth/Nosgothic Realm)
- ↑ Legacy of Kain Secrets: Page 2 of 9 at SK: The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain (archived at Dark Chronicle)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (Jul 12, 1996 prototype)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (Jul 15, 1996 prototype)
- ↑ Force Shield and Magic Absorb Dungeon at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ Original Repel Dungeon at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
- ↑ The Shield and Other Mysteries at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
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