The altar was accessed by swimming through a flooded tunnel in the Razielim Territory and contained a distinctive stone statue resembling a demon. Activation of the altar allowed Raziel to gain the Fire Glyph.
The main chamber of the Fire Glyph area has several stone slabs with the symbols of Fire Glyph and two vampire murals. In order to obtain the Fire Glyph, Raziel must light up a basket held by a statue of a four-armed demon. Once ignited, the demon statue wakes up and fire blazes throughout the Fire Glyph sanctuary, igniting all fire holders in the area.
The Fire Glyph Altar area consisted of several areas. The main chamber had a pool with a tunnel, was decorated with vampire murals and served as a hub to access 4 different branches. One of the doorways lead above the altar room, to a room with a crank on the wall opposite a fast closing door. Raziel had to shift to spectral fast to prevent the door from shutting. The second corridor led to a large circular room with pillars. When in spectral realm, the pillars would lower to various heights, allowing Raziel to jump across to the small chamber with a fire source. This room was also decorated with a vampire mural and writing on its back wall. The main Fire Glyph altar consisted of a smaller antechamber and a longer corridor with pillars standing on both sides. The demon statue was sitting on a stone slab holding a brazier.
Development
Alpha versions
1/7
The Fire glyph altar is present in the Soul Reaver alphas but appears much plainer than its beta and retail counterparts. It features only standard brickwork textures, has no lighting effects and no mechanisms present. The "babar" statue is only found in the latest alpha and it cannot be interacted with. No murals or decorative features are present at the time and the main mural figure is revealed by the alphas to have been a texture taken from and originally meant to have featured in the Undercity - this particular mural would later be used again in the Dark forge ofSoul Reaver 2
The Fire Glyph area is displayed in the debug menu of beta versions under the a section labelled as "Dark Eden", potentially implying that at some point it was meant to be located near the area of Turel´s Smokestack.
Notes
1/11
Fire Glyph altar links
1/10
The demon statue resembles the demons found in Spirit forges, but is unknown if the similarity is coincidental.
The Fire Glyph area is sometimes displayed in the debug menu under "Dark Eden" section, implying that it was possibly meant to be located near Turel´s Smokestack area at some point.
The rooms of the Fire Glyph altar area are listed in Debug menus under the "Fire" designation. The individual rooms in order are labelled as follows: "Fire1" refers to the initial curving underwater passage leading eastward away from the flooded area ("huba9") towards the Fire Glyph altar, "Fire2" refers to the lower part of the underwater corridor and the central water pit, "Fire 3" refers to the central chamber of the Fire altar area, "Fire 8" refers to the eastward curved corridor, "Fire7" refers to the narrow section at the end of the previous corridor, "Fire6" refers to the large circular chamber with the tall pillars and the small chamber beyond, "Fire9" refers to the westward curved corridor, "Fire5" refers to the domed chamber with the double doors and "Fire4" refers to the altar area with the "Babar" statue and preceding circular chamber.
Although somewhat obscured in the retail version, the glyph altars are all formed from variations of the same basic room template - a distinctive V-shaped room with a domed ceiling, ribbed walls and an arrangement of six pillars around a stepped altar. In the Fire Glyph altar area two rooms seem to follow the template - the altar itself and the spectral door puzzle. The Fire glyph altar makes the ribs shallower and has only four pillars, but the basic shape is still visible.[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/Force][Soul Reaver/Stone][Soul Reaver/Sound][Soul Reaver/City][Soul Reaver/Fire][Soul Reaver/Sunlight]
Gallery
Tunnel leading to the Fire Glyph area
Raziel standing in the main chamber of the Fire Glyph shrine
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
