"Malek’s Bastion, perched defiantly on the mountain top, black as night against the blanket of snow. What manner of man would choose a land so harsh and utterly devoid of life?"
Upon slaying Nupraptor during his quest to destroy the corrupt Circle of Nine, Kain turned his attention to Malek, the Guardian of the Pillar of Conflict, and flew to his remote fortress from a vantage north of Coorhagen. The Bastion lay west of the Oracle's Cave, upon an inaccessible plateau high in Nosgoth's northern wastes. Upon reaching the desolate peak, Kain was able to gain entry, and discovered that many of the Bastion's human guards appeared to have died, frozen solid during their watch in the cold, sterile environment.
Within the Bastion, Kain was continuously taunted by Malek and assailed by numerous rotating blades, spike traps and Sarafan wraiths - the remnants of long-dead warriors of the Sarafan, whose souls had - much like Malek's - been fused to magical armor. Kain overcame the Sarafan, locating and shutting down their generator machinery. In the Bastion's penultimate chamber, Kain came upon a regal corpse sat upon a throne, flanked by guards, which Malek claimed was his own.
An early render of Malek and his bastion
Kain engaged in battle with Malek in the Bastion's furthermost sanctum, temporarily incapacitating the Guardian with Iron Sword combos. However, Malek proved too powerful for the fledgling vampire to defeat alone, and summoned forth an almighty spell which propelled a wall of fatal energy towards his opponent, attempting to destroy Kain and the Bastion itself along with him. Kain retreated via a teleporter and emerged in an easterly cavern, where he obtained Havoc and Malice. Ariel then counseled him to seek the Oracle of Nosgoth for aid.
Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy[]
Screenshots of the unreleased Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy from Jason Muck's portfolio depict Kain traversing a snowy, mountainous fortress emblazoned with the symbol of the Sarafan Brotherhood and defended by animated suits of armor. Upon viewing the images, several fans theorized that the then-undisclosed location was Malek's Bastion, revisited.[1] This theory was confirmed in an update to Jason Muck's website, in which most of the screenshots were renamed (i.e. FinalMalek02.jpg).[2]
Gameplay[]
The Bastion is easily one of the least hospitable locations in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain - the only source of blood in its confines are blood vials, as the few enemies Kain can feed on are ghostly and cannot replenish his health. Additionally, the snow in its outdoor environs is harmful to him.
There are two secrets, #32 and #33, to be found within Malek's Bastion. The courtyard can be revisited after the battle with Malek via bat flight, but not the main fortress itself.
Notes[]
Malek claims the corpse outside his chambers as his own, however there are a number of discrepancies with how he appeared at time of his punishment. the corpse in the Bastion was still clothed, whereas Malek was only wearing a loincloth at the time of his punishment. The corpse also retained some flesh, whereas Malek's remains were apparently rendered skeletal by his punishment - and long enough time had elapsed between Malek's damnation and the rest of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain for any flesh to have decayed. Another chained skeleton can be observed in a darkened room within Avernus Cathedral which is extraordinarily similar in appearance to the room where Mortanius condemned Malek in the game's opening sequence - and this could represent alikely candidate for Malek's remains, or be another person entirely. To confuse matters further, Prima's Official Blood Omen Strategy Guide refers to both corpses as Malek's.
The Blood Omen alphabuilds have another identical 'fleshy' corpse positioned on a throne inside Malek's boss room, suggesting that developers were undecided about where to position Malek's remains and the corpse was in the process of being moved when the alpha builds were created. This brings the total number of Malek's corpses to three - or four if including the damaged armor see at the end of the Threaten the Circle.
