"These forges are tuned to the Soul Reaver’s energy. One you have baptized the sword in these elemental fonts, the blade may be imbued with that element at any future time."
The Sound Forge was a deleted elemental Reaver forge that was intended to feature in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The forge would have allowed Raziel to imbue the Wraith Blade with elemental Sound allowing him to forge the Sound Reaver. Ultimately both the forge and its accompanying enhancement were cut due to time constraints.
The Sound Forge was one of many elemental Reaver forges that were supposed to make an appearance in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. The forge was a special chamber where Raziel would be able to imbue the Wraith Blade with elemental Sound to forge the Sound Reaver enhancement. Due to the time constraints, all of the other forges were cut and only the Fire forge remained in the final version, with both the Sound Reaver and Sound forge removed.[Soul Reaver][1][2][3][4]
Behind the scenes[]
The Sound Forge was originally mentioned and featured in pre-release materials promoting Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver which discussed the planned enhancements for the game - although no imagery of the forge was present in these materials.[1][5][6][7]
Despite records of its presence the release version of Soul Reaver contained only one of the elemental forges that had been discussed - the Fire Forge - with the others cut before release. Although removed, the Sound Reaver enhancement was present in the Debug menus of the retail game and could be activated through the menus or other means. The forge however was not present in any capacity in the retail or beta versions of the game and the location of the forge was not definitively known until many years later.[Soul Reaver][8][1]
Model image of the Sound Forge as it appears in the alphas
In 2020 alpha versions of the game containing much of the previously cut content were publicised and these contained and definitively identified the lost Sound Forge. In this version The Sound Forge was found to be present in the upper areas of the Silenced Cathedral in a chamber that comes off the side of ”Cathy42” - where there is only a wall in the retail version.[2][3][4][1]
The Sound Forge appeared to echo the layout of the other forges with one prolonged corridor and forge at the end. The chamber itself was unfinished even in the alpha and consisted of an untextured copy of the Sunlight Forge - with a plain cream-colored replica of the 'lens' and 'sunbeam' apparatus found in the Sunlight forge along with bare cream-colored walls. Although functional and leading to an imbuing cutscene, no Reaver enhancement was given for forging the blade but upon manual activation through Debug menus the Sound Reaver could be re-imbued from the forge.[2][3][4][1] A later build uncovered in 2022 showed the Sound Forge slightly further along in development with textures completed but no altar. Here the room was presented in a classical style with pillared walls and an ornate design around the top of the walls. The ceiling was domed and decked with circular motifs resembling acoustic panels.
Initially a generic explanation of all forges by the Elder God was intended to play when Raziel discovered his first forge, but upon deletion of the other forges this dialogue was tailored to be specific to the Fire Forge. The original voice recording is still present but unusued in the files of some builds.[Soul Reaver]
"These forges are tuned to the Soul Reaver’s energy. One you have baptized the sword in these elemental fonts, the blade may be imbued with that element at any future time."
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver - Deleted Forges, Reavers, and the Spirit Glyph
(by Legacy of Kain: The Lost Worlds - Official)
Design and Layout[]
1/4
The Sound forge branches off from the top levels of the Silenced Cathedral in the alpha builds and the passage leading to it can be found in the "Cathy42" room containing the the collapsed masonry balanced upon a block. The passage itself is a high opening accessible by jumping from a ledge below. The passage is blocked by a grate without a return planar portal necessitating the use of Phasing through gates and Shift At Will to bypass and return to the Material Realm. The opening leading away from the "Cathy42" room to the forge is notably blocked and replaced with a solid wall in later builds.[2][3][4][1][Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/7][8]
The forge itself appeared to be an untextured copy on the Sunlight Forge, with the same basic appearance and apparatus -potentially being used as a placeholder until the final design was completed or implemented. In a similar manner to the other forges the layout consisted of a long rectangular chamber with a curved end, adorned throughout with pillars on both sides - although this was barely noticeable with the textures and colorscheme. A wide shallow channel - also only barely distinguishable - could be seen running along the middle of the chamber towards the back of the room. At the curved end of the room, the channel ended in front of a large circular pedestal with a smaller raised font at its center. Directly above the pedestal was a circular construction held aloft by three legs emanating from the side and back walls around the pedestal. The ceiling of the area was domed and featured an open hole. Below the circular construction an tapering shape was positioned - apparently representing the similar sunbeam of the Sunlight forge.[2][3][4][1]
Inhabitants and collectibles[]
The Sound Reaver (cannot be forged or imbued in known builds): "Once Raziel has visited the Sound Forge and baptized the Reaver in the elemental altar, the blade has the potential to be imbued with sound whenever it appears in the environment. Once manifest in the material plane, the blade can be imbued with sound by striking it against any sound producing elements (e.g. bells). A single blow with the Sound Reaver destroys the affected enemy, shattering it. The Sound Reaver projectile has the same effect."[6]
In game files, the Sound Forge is labelled as ”Cathy44” - relating to its position within the Silenced Cathedral - with the room notably containing the object "msound" which identifies the forge within. This room designation is notably absent from later builds where the forge has been removed and the passage leading to the forge is replaced by a solid wall in later builds.[2][3][4][1][Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/9]
In the room "Cathy42"...
...the alphas have some changes...
...compared to later builds...
...and this passage leading to the Sound Forge...
...becomes a wall in later builds
1/5
The Sound Forge is only partially functional in the alpha builds. When forging the Wraith Blade is attempted, a brief cutscene plays showing Raziel bathing the Wraith blade in the 'beam', but the blade is not changed and no ability is given - even in Debug menus. However if the Sunlight Reaver is already counted as 'forged' then the blade can be reimbued from the forge which gives a short 'tapping' animation and activates the Sound Reaver. The area also notably contains several Bells - which are said to be one of the primary reimbuing methods - although these cannot be used to similarly imbue the blade.[2][3][4][6]
The Sound Forge is somewhat unique in that after its deletion the passage leading to it is completely boarded up and a wall placed across it. All of the other deleted forges have some kind of room rearrangement or substitution take place where the deleted forge is changed for a new room and the passage that formerly led to the forge simply has another purpose.[2][3][4][8][Soul Reaver]
The Sound Forge is not the only unfinished forge that copies another to be found in the alpha builds of Soul Reaver. An unidentified forge room labelled only as "adda2" can also be found in the alphas along the path to the Oracle's Cave, but this forge does not appear to relate to any known enhancement - with all other known enhancements already accounted for. Similarly it consists of an untextured copy of another forge - this time copying the nearby Stone Forge.[2][3][4]
The Similarly unfinished "Adda2" forge room
The Sound Forge and Sound Reaver were companions to the Sound Glyph and Sound Glyph Altar still present in the game. The Glyph altar notably is also related to the Silenced Cathedral in the retail version of the game - appearing in a cavern directly underneath the lower areas of the Cathedral. However the altar is known to have moved during development and was originally placed in a cave nearby the Sanctuary of the Clans - ultimately it may have been moved to the Cathedral to cater for the removal of the Sound forge. Both the Sound Glyph and the Sound Forge were originally intended to be only accessible with Shift At Will ability.[2][3][4][Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver/7][6][9]
Developer comments have suggested that the elemental Reaver forges and other optional collectables were not originally intended to be so optional and would instead have been items that were intended to be collected along the route of the story. Although the Sound forge is positioned along the route to reach the top of the Cathedral it is likely to have actually been one of the last enhancements to be gained - requiring Shift At Will to access and positioned on the alpha Debug menu as one of the later acquired Reavers. Originally the Wraith Blade lacked a finishing move and Raziel was thus unable to kill vampires with just the basic version. Imbuing the Reaver with the various elements gave it deadly properties and enemies could then be killed just by striking them. Once the additional forges had been cut, the developers added the charging attack seen in the retail version which was capable of destroying enemies - and in the process removed the reliance on elemental imbuing.[2][3][4][8][10][Soul Reaver][6][9]
The Sound Reaver (cannot be forged or imbued in known builds): "Once Raziel has visited the Sound Forge and baptized the Reaver in the elemental altar, the blade has the potential to be imbued with sound whenever it appears in the environment. Once manifest in the material plane, the blade can be imbued with sound by striking it against any sound producing elements (e.g. bells).
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
