Legacy of Kain Wiki
Register
Advertisement

"Clearly my escape had not been anticipated, or my 'benevolent' master would not have expended such efforts to prevent me from going. And if my departure displeased him, then that was a victory, however small, for me."
―Raziel[src]

This entry regards the second level of Defiance ; for entries in the Dark Chronicle, see Dark Chronicle (term)

Chapter 2: Escape form the Elder God Chamber, also known as Chapter 2: Raziel - Underworld, was the second level of Legacy of Kain: Defiance. It followed Raziel as he attempted to escape from the Elder God in the 'Underworld' and reach the Material Realm.

Plot[]

Chapter 2 showed the fate of Raziel following the conclusion of Soul Reaver 2, where in his weakened state, Raziel had returned to the Elder God in the depths of the 'Underworld'. Following a debate regarding Raziel's motivations for his defiance of the Elder (and his apparent "cowardice"), Raziel feigned submission and 'accepted' his role as a servant of the Elder.

Like Chapter 1 (and the beginning of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver), the initial 'Underworld' areas served as a tutorial for Raziel and his unique abilities; highlighting basic jumping and Gliding, Checkpoints, Soul Devouring, Wall Climbing and basic Combat. After escaping from the Elder into the Spectral Realm, Raziel discovered that his restraints had merely been relaxed, as the Elder would no longer provide Planar Portals for Raziel to enter the Material Realm. Investigating his surroundings, Raziel was able to Phase Through a set of bars to enter the Main Cemetery.

Transcript[]

Dark Chronicle: Raziel in the Underworld[]

[The camera descends into Moebius's mysterious pool, with a sort of action-wipe to convey the passage of time and distance. As the scene clears, Raziel is revealed in the depths of the Underworld, kneeling before the Elder God in defeat and exhaustion. Raziel is starving, suffering. But he won't submit. The disembodied voice of the Elder God fills the chamber – his tone is paternalistic and patronizing, with an underlying threat. Didactic and patient, but with wrath just beneath the surface.]
Elder God: Surrender, Raziel. Abandon this petty rebellion. It was I who made you. Your life had played out, and in my grace, I spared you. You are my reaper of souls. You have no other purpose, no higher destiny – just this. Accept your calling, Raziel. Let go of these vain hopes. Relinquish your will, and feed.
[From his kneeling position, Raziel glares up at the Elder God, his eyes flashing defiantly. This is our first close shot of Raziel.]
Raziel: No.
Elder God: What do you profit from this defiance?
Raziel: There's some grim satisfaction in infuriating you.
Elder God: My patience is eternal, Raziel. How many eons can you bear to languish here?
[Raziel bows his head, exhausted and weak from hunger.]
Elder God: The Wheel of Fate must turn; all are redeemed in the cleansing agony of birth, death and rebirth. This is the Engine of life – the purifying rhythm of the universe – to which all souls are irresistibly drawn. Yours is a necessary and noble function, Raziel.
Raziel: Enough of your sermonizing – are you trying to bore me into submission? Why must this game go on? We both know what you are. You're no better than the vampires you so despise – a voracious parasite cloaking its appetite in a shroud of righteousness. I refuse to do your will.
Elder God: I can see into your heart, Raziel. It is not your will, but cowardice that keeps you here.
Raziel: (steely, almost a statement)
How so?
Elder God: You know what fate awaits you when you leave the underworld. That phantom weapon you bear is a constant reminder, isn't it? The Sword is waiting for you out there somewhere, and you tarry so as not to meet it.
[The Elder God knows he has struck a nerve.]
Raziel (V. O.): I could not deny it. As long as I lingered here, defying my captor, I was able to postpone what I feared was my inevitable doom: to become the ravenous spirit imprisoned in the Reaver blade. But that sentence was no worse than the stalemate I now endured. Better to face one's destiny than cower from it.
Elder God: Harvester of souls I created you, and to this function, my angel of death, you will return.
[Raziel interrupts, frustrated and disillusioned –]
Raziel: Enough. Yes. I submit.
Elder God: Very good. Indulge your hunger.
[A soul materializes in front of the kneeling Raziel, looking frightened and lost. Weakly, Raziel opens his cowl and draws the soul in. Raziel gasps as the soul is devoured – it has a joltingly powerful effect on him. At the same time, the Elder God too responds with great satisfaction. The souls Raziel devours are siphoned to sustain him.]
Elder God: Yes... embrace your calling, Raziel. You will find that, just as defiance has its price, so obedience has its rewards.
[A patch of the Elder's tentacles uncoil, revealing an exit from the chamber. Raziel stands slowly to his feet, finally regaining his strength after so long. He looks hatefully up at the mass of the Elder God.]
Raziel: And submission is not always what it seems.


Dialogue: The Underworld[]

[Raziel reaches a cavernous chamber with treacherous drops –]
Raziel (V. O.): Below me swirled an ominous-looking mist. I knew that if I fell, it would mean my peril.
[The exit is on the other side of the room. When Raziel approaches it, the Elder God's tentacles close the passage off.]
Raziel (V. O.): Do you believe your worthiness is so easily proved? Your way is sealed until you have offered further evidence of your obedience.
[Six blazing eyes appear over the barrier, and six souls manifest throughout the cavern. Raziel looks around, seeing the set-up. Disgusted, he acknowledges that he understands –]
Raziel: (disgusted)
I must feed you before I depart this place.
Elder God: You must feed yourself, Raziel.
Raziel: (mocking)
"The Wheel must turn..."
Elder God: (patronizing)
Ah – now you understand.
[Raziel reaps all six souls.]
Elder God: You may go, but remember – you are mine. You can no more escape from me than you can escape yourself.
[Raziel approaches the exit of the next room. Again, the Elder God’s tentacles reach out and seal off the passage.]
Elder God: (laughter)
[Raziel stops. From behind him comes a slithering, hissing sound. Sluagh begin to peel out of the cracks of the room, advancing on Raziel.]
Raziel: You want this room cleared of its vermin.
Elder God: If you wish to leave it.
Raziel: (sarcastically)
Your will be done.
Elder God: My good servant.
[When all the Sluagh are destroyed, the doorway opens once more.]
Elder God: You see? Obedience brings prompt rewards.
[Raziel enters a tall cavern, in which a broken ledge spirals up to the top. He begins to inch his way toward the first gap in the ledge.]
Elder God: Where do you think you’re going, little soul?
[The lethal mist below glows brightly, and begins to rise.
Raziel races up the vertical shaft out of the underworld, pursued by the Elder God, who calls out to him:]
Elder God: You can't escape!
Elder God: Run faster!
Elder God: Raziel...
Elder God: Embrace your destiny.
Elder God: You will never escape.
Elder God: Clever, Raziel. Clever, indeed.
Elder God: (laughter)
Elder God: I've endured your game long enough.
Elder God: I grow tired of this, Raziel.
[As the terrain crumbles around Raziel, he makes a last desperate leap for an overhang, and pulls himself up out of the shaft. And just in time – as Raziel leaps into the chamber above, the Elder God's tentacles grasp for him and topple a massive slab of masonry. Amidst the chaos, Elder God cries out as he strains to stop Raziel –]
Elder God: No!
[The slab falls, sealing off the opening to the lower shaft. Raziel stops and regains his composure –]
Raziel (V. O.): Clearly my escape had not been anticipated, or my 'benevolent' master would not have expended such efforts to prevent me from going. And if my departure displeased him, then that was a victory, however small, for me.


Dialogue: The Cemetery[]

[Approaching the bottom of a shaft leading up to the surface of the ethereal water:]
Raziel (V. O.): In the spectral realm, water is as thin as air, putting this opening far beyond my reach. But once I found my way into the material world, I might to able to swim up there...
[Raziel climbs up onto a platform and encounters a closed door.]
Raziel (V. O.): This door would only open when fitted with an appropriate artifact. But to use such an object, I would first have to find my way back into the material realm.
[Raziel enters the upper tomb chamber:]
Raziel (V. O.): At last, I discovered a conduit into the material realm. I would finally escape the spirit world, and take one step farther from my tormentor...
[As Raziel nears it, the planar portal begins to vanish.]
Elder God: (laughter)
Did you think to receive the same favors after your rebellion as before? No, Raziel. I have no need for you to enter the physical world, so no conduit will be granted. You serve me adequately as a wraith, and a wraith you will remain.
[Raziel stands before the dissipating portal and looks around the room in anger.]
Raziel (V. O.): So my restraints had not been removed, only loosened. I would not be held prisoner in the spectral realm – there had to be another way.
[Raziel phases through the tomb's gated window and drops down into the open courtyard. Several souls hover among the graves here. One of them ascends toward the sky. As Raziel watches, nightmarish figures swoop in like sharks from outside the courtyard, homing in on the fleeing souls like blood in the water. They devour the souls, whose light is extinguished.]
Raziel (V. O.): As I emerged, I was granted a vision of what I would become, if I did not escape the spectral realm. For these too were agents of my master, hunting the lost souls that struggled to escape the endless twilight of the underworld.
[When Raziel defeats the Archons, the combat barriers are dissolved.]
Raziel (V. O.): My master's plan for me was ominously clear. Like these mindless hunters, I existed only to fuel him with souls, siphoning their energy to feed him and his Wheel of Fate. I had to break these bonds, while I still possessed my own will.



Notes[]

  • In this Chapter, Raziel can collect 2 Arcane tomes - with both Health talismans and Telekinesis runes missing as they require the 'physical' effects of the Material Realm to utilise them. Similarly Raziel begins the Chapter with both the Spectral and Material Reaver enhancements, but he can only utilise the Spectral Reaver at this time. Raziel encounters three enemy classes during this chapter; the Sluagh, Tentacles and at the end of the chapter faces two Reaper archons .
  • Raziel has the main objective "Escape from the Underworld" and the minor objectives "Find a way out of the Caverns", "Seek an exit from the Crypts" and "Defeat the Archons". Prima's Defiance Guide labels this chapter "Escape from the Elder God Chamber".
  • Prima's Defiance Guide labels the rooms in this chapter as "Elder God Chamber", "Cavern of Lost Souls", "Sluagh Cavern", "Ascending Cavern", "Sunken Tomb", "Tomb Entrance Connector" and "Main Cemetery". It also refers to the initial starting area as "The Underworld" (despite developer comments that this term is synonymous with the "Spectral Realm").
  • The 'Underworld' has several interesting features in the initial chambers, along with several eyes and tentacles (presumably connected to the Elder God, unlike later Tentacles), there are symbols representing the Wheel of Fate and Soul Spiral and several 'fossils' visible in the walls of several chambers. The chapter also features two distinct Nosgothic 'languages'; with a complicated Lovecraft's Diary message in the Elder God Chamber and a Blood Script sign (which reads "rest in peace") as Raziel enters the Main Cemetery.

Gallery[]

See also[]

References[]

Browse[]

Advertisement