Raziel's Clan Territory

Raziel's Clan Territory
Locations article
Raziel's Clan Territory in Soul Reaver.
Introduced in	Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (1999)
Appearance(s)	Soul Reaver

Raziel's Clan Territory was an area of Nosgoth seen in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver that was home to the stronghold of Raziel and the Razielim clan in Kain's empire. After Raziel's execution and return as a wraith he traveled to the territory and found his clan no longer is residence - which fueled his suspicion that they had been wiped out by Kain.

The territory served as one of the earliest levels of the game and an early hub area - connecting to the Necropolis, Drowned Abbey and Abyss/Sanctuary of the Clans. It was also home to several collectibles that could be gained through backtracking with later abilities.

Profile

"Though much of Nosgoth’s landscape had changed, these cliffs gave me my bearings. My clan territory was to the west - I was anxious to see how my descendants had fared during the centuries of my absence."

―Raziel — Listen (file info)

Main gateway to Raziel's throne room

Raziel's clan territory was one of the first areas visited in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. Ostensibly the main territory of the Razielim clan, the territory had been the home of the clan for some time before the opening sequence of the game. Raziel's execution for growing wings appeared to put his clan under threat and when Raziel returned from the underworld after his execution some of his first his first thoughts were regarding the safety of his clan. Thus when he reached the top of the Abyss he traveled west to his clan territory.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

Upon entering he found the stronghold to be largely empty and apparently long abandoned, save for a few scavenging Dumahim roaming around. Raziel took this as evidence of a genocide against his clan by Kain further motivating his hatred against his former master. With much of his stronghold collapsed and reduced to a ruin, Raziel traversed his former home and progressed through in order to get to the Necropolis and his brother Melchiah.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

Raziel battles two Dumahim in the Razielim City

Raziel could return to his stronghold later in the game and use later abilities to collect several optional bonuses and once he'd gained the ability to swim he could potentially enter the territory from a series of underwater passages leading from the Drowned Abbey.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/11][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]} Other backtracking bonuses included a Health power-up behind a grate which could only be accessed with the Phasing through gates ability and several rooms which were only accessible after gaining the Constricting ability and contained puzzles leading to another health power up and an Eldritch energy power-up.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/13][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]} Perhaps the most important optional discovery in the area was found in the flooded section leading toward the abbey where the Fire Glyph Altar was hidden.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/Fire][Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]}

Apocrypha

The cancelled mutliplayer Nosgoth made reference to the Razielim clan territory and suggested that early in Kain's empire all of the clans had utilized covert underground cities to ensure the survival of fledglings and to protect themselves in pupation states.^[NOS]

The Fane as it appears in Nosgoth

Raziel had been among the first to order his clan to leave their original underground city and the Fane beneath the Erebus Mountains to move to a new territory above ground in the early years of Kain's empire. After Raziel's execution and Kain's disappearance the other clans - believing they were doing Kain's will - had turned on the Razielim and invaded their territory. Dividing the spoils of their conquest ultimately led to conflict and the beginning of the Vampire civil war.^[NOS]

Some time later a group of fledgling Razielim led by Eskandor, who had been covertly stored in the abandoned Fane, returned to the Razielim territory to find it occupied by the Dumahim. Revealing the human victories at Coorhagen seen from the skies on his journey, Eskandor and his brood were spared and the clans called an uneasy truce to put down the human resistance and begin the War for Nosgoth.^[NOS]

While the clans cooperated in a reluctant alliance, the Razielim were careful to not expose the location of their underground city. However at one point in the conflict the Fane was discovered by a group of human Scouts who sent parties to raid the territory. With little choice Eskandor urged the other clans to assist in defending it, exposing its location and making the area a battleground in the War for Nosgoth.

Layout and Design

1/5

Raziel's territory consisted of a stronghold directly west of the Abyss with distinctive grey-green brickwork walls. A number of discreet rooms and interconnected corridors could be identified.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

The initial passageway was a curving passage with rocky wall leading westward from the Abyss. It led to the first brickwork area - a wide corridor with several shallow alcoves along the wall and wooden arches. A door to the north led to a narrow outer courtyard area surrounded by high brick battlement-styled walls. A pair of arches to the east with solid Razielim portcullises led through to the first significant rooms of the area.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

The Entrance Archway and Throne Room

1/11

Through the arches the room widened to reveal a much larger outer courtyard again with high but somewhat decayed battlement walls and dominated by a crumbling triumphal arch styled construction decorated with Razielim banners and with three archways - some covered by grates - above three parallel stairways. In front corners of the room was positioned a pair of circular tower-like structures and a bonfire was positioned along the northern wall. Plinths between the stairs bore the remains of several ruined statues and the symbol of the Razielim clan was carved into walls along with Razielim staffs in decorative positions.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

Under the archway was a small interior area beneath the arch with a tall block and high grate blocking access to a Health power-up. Through the other side of the archway was another large outer area. Again bearing decaying brickwork and tall crumbling battlement walls, this area had several columns and shallow patterned alcoves lining each side and a double tiered three-wide staircase in the middle which was flanked by torches and shields. The staircase led up to an altar with a bowl of fire in front of a Razielim symbol encircled on the wall. A door to the right led down a narrow stairway to the Warp gate room while the other doorway led deeper into the territory.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

Flooded Passages (optional)

1/8

The left hand doorway led into a narrow corridor which reached a 'T' junction and widened with a choice of directions. To the right the corridor continued further into the territory and on toward the Octagonal courtyard area. To the left however a slope led steeply downward, with a broken stairway visible dropping below into an area beneath the main territory which was submerged with Water. If Raziel had the ability to swim at this point he could fully explore the flooded passages below.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

The initial stairway led down led to a much larger open rectangular room with a small section above the water-line. Below the surface the area consisted on a central walkway flanked by pillars, two tiers of arches and decorative alcoves and several other wall features. Two arches in on the middle level of the room led further to different areas beyond with the Eastern opening leading to the Fire Glyph Altar area while the southern led on toward the Drowned Abbey.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3][Soul Reaver/Fire]}

The southern passage led down a curved passage to another open square shaped room, with brickwork and arches similar to the Razielim territory visible along it northern and eastern walls. The other walls however were plain rock and the bottom of the chamber descended in a series of steps to an low opening in the south-west of the chamber. Beneath this a corridor of plain rock and uneven stepped surfaces led down to another a cylindrical cistern-like room with a high domed ceiling and ornate decoration on the walls which signaled a shift toward the theming of the abbey. A low opening led down a long narrow curved passage to the an archway which opened into the lower levels of the church area of the Drowned Abbey nearby the Fire Forge.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3][Soul Reaver/10][Soul Reaver/11]}

Fire Glyph Altar (optional)

• The room with the third vampire mural
• Demon statue grants the Fire Glyph

1/26

The Fire Glyph altar was accessed from the initial flooded room of the clan territory from the second level eastern arch. The passages here sloped downward and curved before emerging into a circular pool at the center of Fire Glyph altar area. Rising and exiting the water Raziel could enter the area and seek the Fire Glyph.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/Fire]}

The Octagonal Courtyard and Drawbridge Tower

1/13

If Raziel ignored the flooded areas he could follow the wide corridor to the right away from the 'T' junction. Here the wide corridor turned to the right then left and rose in a series of slopes with a pair of shallow alcoves containing urns. After the left turn the corridor passed through a gate and then opened into a small square courtyard surrounded by high crumbling walls. A gap between the wall to the north led out to a much wider open area with high walls and a bonfire to the north east - the courtyard here extended to the west where an open arch led to through to the a large octagonal courtyard with a prominent circular tower at the center.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

This area housed a large drawbridge tower which could give Raziel access to three different drawbridges. The walls of this room were decorated with a number of arch designs and decorative features and a stairway curved around the south of the tower leading up to the central tower area where a dial was poisoned along with a flip switch on the wall. By default the switch would lower a drawbridge from the southwestern wall which Raziel could cross and pass through a series of stepped zig-zag corridors to reach the final courtyard of the Razielim territory.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

Drawbridge Tower Extras (optional)

1/12

The drawbridge tower housed a number of additional secrets which could only be accessed after Raziel had gained the constrict ability. By using constrict to turn the dial in the drawbridge tower Raziel could make the switch lower the other drawbridges. The northwestern drawbridge led down a narrow corridor to the a large circular room with a domed room supported by several square pillars containing a health power up at the far end. The northeastern drawbridge led downstairs through a twisting corridor to an open rectangular with high ledges on opposite sides with a raised plinth in the middle of the central pit. Several Blocks were positioned around the room and completion of the block puzzle - by creating a platform high enough for Raziel to reach the far ledge - allowed Raziel to gain an Eldritch energy power-ups. The final drawbridge to the south west led up to a high ledge overlooking the previous bonfire courtyard. From her it was possible to see and jump to a high alcove and collect an Eldritch energy recharge.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/13]}

Final Courtyards

1/7

The final courtyard of the Razielim territory consisted of a wide open space hemmed in by the the distinctive high battlement walls, brickwork and arch designs characteristic of the territory. A series of shallow alcoves and arches dotted the walls and a ramp led up to a par of openings on the far wall - one of which was covered by a gate. A set of steep steps marked the transition from brickwork to plain stone and a more natural wide open area with a small cave containing a bonfire to the south. Three distinctive columns in this area bore the distinctive designs associated with the Necropolis and gateway to the north was marked with several Melchahim designs, signalling the entrance to their territory.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

Maps

• Initial progression

1/18

• Drowned abbey links

1/7

• Fire Glyph altar links

1/11

 

Behind the scenes

Soul Reaver Alpha - Raziel's Clan Territory

(by Raina Audron)

1/17

Raziel's clan territory had a few changes made during the course of development and has some notable changes in alpha builds:

• The initial chambers of the stronghold had square pillars down the middle of the room.
• The main courtyard area had no collectible alcove and grate, no flaming bowl, no flags and had visible ruined remains- with a statue head and a hand still on the floor, and a fallen arch in the back of the area. The stairs originally started off complete before being made rougher in successive builds.
• The warp gate room fits the theming of the area rather than being a uniformly decorated room.
• The drawbridge tower area lacks the bonfires and enemies seen in retail. The drawbridge arrangement changes with builds as two drawbridges which are down upon entry and no mechanism is present in early alpha builds, but the later alphas have the more familiar single drawbridge, switch and constrict dial mechanism.
• The rooms coming from the drawbridge tower are different. The northwestern chamber rather then having the circular pillared room instead contains the Fire Forge - which is moved to the Drowned Abbey for retail. The southwestern chamber connects directly to the next chamber rather than through the zig-zag corridor seen in retail.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/10][Soul Reaver/3]}

Notes

Raziel at the "babar" statue in the Fire Glyph Altar

• Raziel's Clan Territory is not given a proper name in Soul Reaver. Raziel simply refers to it as "my clan territory" and the Elder God refers to it as "your former stronghold".^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]} The official strategy guide refers to both the location and the chapter as "Raziel's clan territory", however on one occasion it does refer to it as "Raziel's fallen empire".^{[Soul Reaver strategy guide (Prima)]} Even in the lore of cancelled title Nosgoth, the main territory of the Razielim is generally referred to simply as "Clan Razielim’s home territory" or similar variants. The Nosgoth lore entries do introduce an abandoned underground city which served as an early Razielim territory prior to the construction of the Smokestack. The "Fane" map area was one of the districts of the underground city.
  • Raziel's clan territory in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is referred to within the game by the code "huba", presumably referencing its status as an early hub area. The individual rooms are labelled in order as follows: "huba1" refers to the curving corridor leading from the Abyss, "huba2" refers to the initial walled area and the small courtyard after, "huba4"refers to the large open courtyard with the arch, "huba6" refers to the back area of the open courtyard with the two doors, "huba7" refers to the corridor and stairs behind the warp gate door, "huba8" refers to the warp gate room, "huba3" refers to the corridor with the flooded staircase, "huba9" refers to the large flooded room at the bottom of the staircase which leads on toward the Drowned Abbey and Fire Glyph altar, "huba19" refers to the 'L'-shaped corridors leading away from the flooded area, "huba16" refers to the outside area with the bonfire, "huba10" refers to the octagonal courtyard and drawbridge tower area, "huba14" refers to the northeastern passage and stairs, "huba5" refers to the northeastern room containing a block puzzle and an eldritch power up, huba11" refers to the northwestern passage, "huba18" refers to the circular room with the Health upgrade, "huba20" refers to the southwestern zig-zag corridors, "huba13" refers to the open courtyard with the staircase along one side and "huba17" refers to the external area leading to the Melchahim symbol gate and onto the Necropolis.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}

    

    The Razielim "hubstaff" weapon

    • Some nearby areas through the flooded section follow the designs of Raziel's clan territory with it appearing that they may have originated as areas of the territory that became inaccessible due to flooding. These areas include the Fire glyph shrine - labelled under the "Fire" code - and the Drowned abbey connector rooms - labelled under the "Conectg" code.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/Fire]} The individual rooms in these sections are labelled in order as follows:
      • For the Fire Glyph Altar: "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 "Barbar" statue and preceding circular chamber.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/Fire]}
        • Raziel's Clan territory blocks

        1/4
      • For the Abbey links: "conectg1" refers to the initial curving underwater passage leading southward away from the flooded area ("huba9") towards the Drowned Abbey, "conectg2" refers to the open square chamber, "conectg3" refers to the next curving stepped corridor, "conectg4" refers to the circular cistern-like chamber and "conectg5" refers to the final curved corridor which leads into the area beneath the 'church' of the Drowned abbey (at "Aluka8"). Interestingly the first two chambers bear the familiar brickwork of Raziel's territory while the last two have darker patterned work similar to the Drowned abbey - the middle chamber consists of a simple rock passage.^{[Soul Reaver]}
      • Another area which follows the designs of Raziel's clan territory is the Fire forge which is positioned near the end of the connector section in the drowned abbey. This is because although the forge is formally a part of the abbey and is listed as "aluka47", it was originally part of Raziel's territory earlier in development. It was previously joined to the northwestern opening of the drawbridge tower and was called "huba12".^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/10]}
    • Several of the obvious gaps in the aforementioned room lists are due to developmental changes, relating to deleted, modified or merged rooms: "huba12" relates to the Fire forge in its original position as the northwestern passage from the drawbridge tower. "huba15" related to a small connector passage which is merged into "huba14" in the retail release. The areas "huba18", "hub19a" and "huba20" were all added after the known alphas as the original layout was somewhat tighter. As development progressed "huba18" was added in in place of the deleted Fire Forge, the L shaped "huba19" was added between the flooded area and the octagonal courtyard, and "huba20" was added between the octagonal courtyard and the final open courtyard - in the latter two cases the rooms may have been added to keep the overall layout consistent while adding some opportunity to load upcoming areas unseen. Another change revolves around "Fire8" which is not present in the alphas - the room "Fire7" is split into two for the later betas and retail, with the initial curve section labelled as "Fire8".
• In terms of music, a faster paced variation of Ozar Midrashim plays as Raziel progresses through Raziel's clan territory.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]} Originally a version of the Fire forge track was intended to play in the territory, but this track ended up cut from the game - and its removal may be related to the Fire Forge location being moved to the Drowned Abbey, where it instead plays a variant of the Drowned Abbey track in the retail release.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/10][Soul Reaver/11]} The Fire Glyph Altar area has its own associated track which plays the Sound Glyph track.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/Fire]}
  • The Razielim warp gate in game
  • Map view of the warp gate
  • The warp gate in the January alpha
  • The warp gate in the February alphas

  1/4
• Raziel's clan territory Warp gate uses the symbol of Raziel and the Razielim as its identification pattern and is the first to use a formal symbol associated with Kain's empire to do so, perhaps suggesting that the network was created after the rise of the clans and Kain's empire itself.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]} In earlier developmental versions the warp rooms are much more themed with the area they were placed in rather than the uniform design seen in the retail version and as such and the Razielim warp gate appropriately uses the white-grey brick and arches associated with the rest of the territory along with a Razielim symbol drawn onto the wall.
• The Razielim territory features several unique and interesting weapons. The stronghold is liberally decorated with Torches and introduces its own "hubstaff" staff variant weapon, which features the clan symbol and is named for the debug label of the area - the weapon would go on to be recreated for the BBI Raziel action figure. At least one of the "cstaff" weapons can also be found in the last section of the territory - although it had previously been seen outside the Sanctuary of the Clans. All four of the boulder designs can be seen in the territory where they are often disguised as rubble. Additionally and two of the urn designs can be seen. The Fire Glyph Altar area provides some further weaponry: here torches and the "urnx" return from the main territory but they are joined by the "stnaff" staff variant weapon seen in several other areas.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3][Soul Reaver/Fire]}
• Two distinct block designs were used in Raziel's clan territory. The first was a tall block with a unique design with faint script visible on the surface. This block was labelled in files as "pshuba": it was only found beneath the main archway of the territory and was used to reach the bonus health power-up found there. The second block type bore a distinctive cross symbol overlaid with a diamond and was also associated with bonus items, being used in the Eldritch power-up block puzzle extending from the top of the drawbridge tower. This block type - labelled as "pshblk" would be seen throughout the game and was most notably used in the Oracle's Cave in the eponymous chapter.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]}
• The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver comic features a brief storyline with Raziel as a vampire just before his execution. While its location is not definitively discussed, its set up would suggest the Razielim clan territory as a likely setting.^{[Soul Reaver comic]}

The Fate of the Razielim

An unused Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver vampire design by Arnold Ayala, possibly depicting a descendant of Raziel.

The ultimate fate of the Razielim clan is unclear. Raziel's discovery of his vacant clan territory initially leads him to believe that in his absence Kain has wiped out his clan, the Razielim. However Raziel's Clan Territory provides little evidence of this with only a few blood stained shields visible mounted on walls. Apart from this the stronghold has no signs of a struggle or bodies - and even the clan banners remain in place.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/3]} In comparison numerous corpses are shown in Dumah's territory, the the Ruined City of the Dumahim, where the Dumahim were massacred by human Vampire hunters - though these differences could potentially be explained by the time difference between the massacres or the differing assailants.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/12][Soul Reaver/13]} Raziel's questioning of Melchiah in the Necropolis seemed to indicate that Raziel was indeed the last survivor of the clan in that time period.^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/4]} However when directly quizzed by Raziel, Kain gives a vaguer response which is open to interpretation^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/6]} and subsequent titles revealed that Kain's outright villainous portrayal was something of a ruse, deliberately intended to provoke Raziel's "reckless indignation".^{[Soul Reaver 2/5][Soul Reaver 2/5][Defiance/13]} Thus the topic remained open to debate and speculation.

In the years following the releases of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver several developers cast doubt on the perceived elimination of the Razielim. When questioned on the fate of the clan in 2002, Amy Hennig cryptically replied that "this is currently unrevealed". Some time after discarded artwork from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver by artist Arnold Ayala was discovered which included an illustration of a "winged vampire". Further responses by Daniel Cabuco also offered conflicting opinions on their fate and potential for return in some capacity:

"When I worked on Soul Reaver, I believed them all killed (with perhaps a survivor or two). If you look at the scheme, Raziel's clan was the most powerful and favored. The sudden loss of their leader, and favor with Kain meant that they were targets for destruction: The other clans would have gleefully torn them apart. Based on the original SR storyline, Kain couldn't risk any of them developing wings and showing that Kain's gifts were mutating and growing beyond the Master. Kain was always first with the gifts.. that's how he maintained power.
By the time Defiance was made, I was wistfully thinking that perhaps a few of them survived, hiding throughout the realm. It's a sad thing though, because they would still be tainted and doomed to devolution. By the time Raziel saw them again, he probably wouldn't recognize them. Even if they did survive, I imagine Kain would have to put them down, perhaps activating the silenced cathedral so he could start over.. IF he went back to the original SR1 timeline."

―Daniel Cabuco

• Nosgoth Sentinel appearance
• The 'Evolved Razielim' skin design

1/3

Ultimately the lore of spin-off Nosgoth - set some centuries before Raziel's return as a wraith - indicated that while the clan had been subject to extermination efforts after Raziel's execution some had been hidden away in the previous abandoned underground city and survived through Pupating in the Fane. The survivors of the clan emerged to find themselves the last of their kind. With an uneasy relationship rebuilt with the other clans, the Razielim Sentinels were playable characters and provided aerial capability to the vampires in the renewed War for Nosgoth against humanity. Thus Nosgoth gave grounds for an initial extermination and a later tentative resurgence - as well as planting several seeds of distrust for a potential later extermination before Raziel's return. It also formalised the "Razielim" spelling of the clan name.^[NOS]

Gallery

Textures

See also

• Razielim
• Raziel's Clan Territory (chapter)
  • Fire Glyph Altar
    • Fire Glyph (chapter)
    • "babar"
  • Fire Forge (Soul Reaver)
• Fane
• "cstaff"
• "hubstaff"
• "hndtrch"
• Map at Nosgothic Realm (by Tenaya, Guilherme Coelho and Andrew Fradley).