Water

Water
Introduced in	Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996)
Appearance(s)	• (SR1C) • • • • (DEFC) •

"Though it is life-giving to humans, water is deadly to vampires. Its touch burns our skin, immersion in water can kill us. Avoid it at all costs."

―Umah

Water is a natural liquid that is a constant feature of the environment in Nosgoth. Water is seen as "life-giving" and beneficial if not necessary to Humans and presumably most other life in Nosgoth, except for Vampires, to whom it was deadly. As such, Water has been a hazard to Kain in Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance; but it is a weakness which Wraith Raziel had largely overcome when he learnt the ability to swim in Soul Reaver.

Profile

Water is a constant feature of the Nosgothic landscape, presumably just as vital to life and geology as in the real world, it is seen throughout the series, both on and beneath the surface of Nosgoth, generally collected in large bodies of water as 'Lakes' and 'Seas' (any 'Rivers' are as yet unnamed).^{[Blood Omen][Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver 2][Blood Omen 2][Defiance]}

Kain using Mist Form to avoid Water

Primarily in the series, Water has been significant for its ability to cause injury and death to vampires. The effects of being exposed to water are described as being burned as by acid or fire and immersion in water is considered fatal. Thus for Vampires, Water was a potent natural danger to be avoided and this vulnerability was often exploited by enemies of the vampires. In this capacity, Water was frequently featured within the games as a hazard, primarily to Vampire Kain in Blood Omen, Blood Omen 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

In Blood Omen, contact with water would cause damage, depleting Kain's Blood vial and when Kain emerged from his Mausoleum after being resurrected as Vampire, the damage caused by rainfall was one of his first experiences of his changed existence and the damage caused by water. Through his journey, Kain would also be harmed by snowfall and crossing 'bodies of water' ^{[Blood Omen]} and the swamp. Kain was however able to use several methods to avoid injury; as the damage caused by rain and snowfall was negated by powers obtained at Blood fountains (with a similar 'swamp-immunity' Blood Fountain planned but cut from the final game).

Kain Jumping to Avoid water in Blood Omen 2

For larger bodies of water, these enhancements were not powerful enough and it was only through Kain's shapeshifting abilities that Kain was able to directly cross water, with Kain's Wolf Form allowing small streams to be jumped and Bat Form allowing Kain to cross water at long-range whilst in flight^{[Blood Omen]}. The most useful method of crossing water however was Mist Form which effectively allowed Kain to float as a vapor above the surface of the water to avoid injury.

The implications of Kain's water weaknesses continued on through the rest of the Blood Omen arc in Blood Omen 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. However, with Mist no longer able to cross water, Kain was forced to use more mundane methods, such as ordinary jumping (occsasionally combined with Floating) and the Jump and Superhuman Leap abilities to avoid water damage^{[Blood Omen 2][Defiance]}. When it returned in Defiance, Bat Form once again allowed water to be crossed at long-range in flight and Kain would actively use it to escape damage if he fell into water^[Defiance].

The Abyss at Raziel's execution

Water would also be an important environmental feature of the Soul Reaver arc and it was vital in the backstory to Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver as Kain's water vulnerability was passed on to the Vampires in his empire, including Kain's first-born lieutenant Raziel. Kain would take advantage of this weakness, using a large whirlpool The Abyss (formally the Lake of the Dead ) as his execution ground for traitors and weaklings. When Raziel evolved before his master, Kain ordered Raziel be cast into the Abyss. Raziel's torment in the Abyss lasted for centuries until the events of Soul Reaver, when he was spared total dissolution and resurrected by the Elder God as a Soul-devouring Wraith^{[Soul Reaver]}. Beginning his journey in the (apparently underwater and in the Spectral Realm) Underworld, Raziel soon discovered that whilst he no longer suffered from many of his old vampiric weaknesses, he was still vulnerable to water immersion in the Material Realm, which would dissolve his manifestation sending him back to the Spectral Realm, where water was as "thin as air". Knowing well of vampires weaknesses to water, when Raziel returned to the Material Realm, water immersion was one of his primary means of finishing vampires (usually by throwing vampires into it). Raziel could also gain a Water-related Glyph spell (see Water related items)

When Raziel traveled to his brother Rahab's territory in the flooded Drowned Abbey, he discovered that the Rahabim Vampires, usually damaged by even the fragile sunlight in the wasteland Nosgoth had managed to overcome traditional Vampires weaknesses to water and had retreated from the surface to the dark corners of the Drowned Abbey, becoming aquatic creatures. Defeating Rahab and consuming his Soul, Raziel gained the ability to swim; maintaining his physical manifestation when immersed in water and also allowing him to take advantage of its buoyancy (initially allowing him to gain passage to the Ruined City of the Dumahim). Raziel's ability to swim would remain throughout Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance and in the latter Raziel would gain two Reaver enhancements that involved had applications with or involved the use of water; the Water Reaver and the Earth Reaver. (see Water Related Items)

Water-Related Items

Throughout the series, a number of items and enhancements have involved the use of water, primarily as a weapon, thus it has most often been associated with Raziel in the Soul Reaver arc.

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  The Water Glyph

  In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Raziel could gain a series of Glyph spells to combat vampire enemies, apparently based on traditional vampire weaknesses. The Water Glyph (found in an altar hidden in the waters beneath the Human Citadel) was moderately powerful, costing six Eldritch Energy points and injuring nearby vampire enemies, though it was ineffective against the water-immune Rahabim vampires or Human enemies^{[Soul Reaver]}. Alongside the Glyphs, Soul Reaver was originally planned to have featured a series of Reaver enhancements, including the removed Water Reaver (gained at the removed Water Forge); which had the ability to kill vampires in two strikes through water-burning (as did its Reaver Bolt).

• Similarly the Water Reaver enhancement was also originally to have featured in Soul Reaver 2 (presumably gained at another Water Forge) along with a Water Reaver augmentation; though the specifics of the usage of this Water Reaver and its upgrade are unknown, it is likely they were similar to the powers demonstrated by the weapon in Legacy of Kain: Defiance (see below), with the Reaver spells of each enhancement stepping in for the separate augmentations of Soul Reaver 2.

  

  Impaled Hylden Gargoyles dripping blood to create the warp to the Water Forge

• The Water Reaver finally made its debut in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, when in Find Vorador, Raziel traveled to Vorador's Mansion to seek the old vampire; in the Mansion Raziel used a pool of water to create a warp to the Water Forge, located in the 'forge tower' of the Vampire Citadel (a location that Kain could also reach through different means)^[Defiance]. There, once he had defeated the Original States and Death Guardians (whose Pillars were aligned with water), Raziel was able to use their souls to imbue the Water Reaver enhancement.

  

  The Water Reaver in Defiance

  The Water Reaver in Defiance was one of the more useful Reaver enhancements available for combat purposes; as its Charged attacks and Reaver spells temporarily froze enemies in ice; it could also be used to douse fire sconces(in which capacity it was initially used to gain entrance to Vorador's Crypt) and to temporarily freeze Waterfalls so that they could be climbed. Later, in Seek Mortanius, Raziel gained a different Reaver enhancement that had applications for water; as possession of the Earth Reaver (gained in the sealed Earth Forge) increased Raziel's weight allowing him to sink to the bottom of water-filled areas and manipulate under-water objects for the first time.

Water is also seen used as a weapon by the Water Balloon wielding Vampire Hunters of Vampire hunters ^{[Blood Omen]}and is suspected to be a part of the projectiles fired by the aquatic Rahabim.

Notes

• Curiously, vampires were also known to inhabit watery environments; with the Vampire Citadel situated in the Lake of Tears and Vorador's Mansion in the heart of the Termogent Forest swampland. The Swamp area in Soul Reaver 2 also had further evidence of habitation with several ruins in the swamp, including some which represent the remains of a planned but ultimately cut tree-top vampire civilization and the Dark Forge itself also located here^{[Soul Reaver 2]}. The Soul Reaver 2 Light Forge (located in the cliffs of the Great Southern Lake) and Air Forges both required the ability to cross water to access them^{[Soul Reaver 2]}. The ruins representing the remains of Soul Reaver 2's planned Spirit Forge can also be observed at the bottom of the Southern Lake. As mentioned above, in Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, the water-immune Rahabim had made their home in the submerged Drowned Abbey.
• Water is frequently linked to life and vitality throughout the course of the series. Umah comments on this link to humans, but it is with comparisons between era that most show this to be the case with the general environment; with several events of Blood Omen waterways drastically altered by Nosgoth's 'wasteland' future in the events of Soul Reaver- the waterfall and waterways around Nupraptor's Retreat had dried up, the Lake of the Dead eroded and expanded to become the massive whirpool the Abyss and several areas such as the Drowned Abbey heavily flooded^{[Soul Reaver]}. Later, when Raziel arrived in the Pre-Blood Omen era, it was the waters and soft waterfalls of the Southern Lake that are used to illustrate "abundant life and vitality" in this era and a 'cataclysmic storm' used to illustrate the beginings of Nosgoth's downfall in the Demon infested Era following Blood Omen. The Ancient vampires did not directly associate Water with 'life' per se, instead (and rather appropriately given their religious beliefs and vulnerabilities) it was directly associated with the Pillars of states and death; though some applications of water notably came under the influence of the Nature Guardians (particularly the weather)^{[Blood Omen]}.

  

  Raziel looks down at the Abyss

• The origins of the water weakness of Nosgoth's vampires is unclear. It is not explicitly mentioned among the symptoms of the Blood curse, but as it was passed on to later Vampire generations along with the other effects it may be considered likely to be a part of the curse. The only known Vampires to have overcome the traditional weakness to water are the Rahabim vampires of the events of Soul Reaver, who evolved as aquatic creatures in the waters of the Drowned Abbey, apparently at the cost of increased vulnerability to sunlight.
• Water is fequently seen used as defence against vampires in architecture, with many stronghold locations such as the Human Citadel^{[Soul Reaver]}, Sarafan Stronghold^{[Soul Reaver 2][Defiance]} and Hylden City ^{[Blood Omen 2]}using deep moats or otherwise naturally protected by water. The Hylden City itself seems to be surrounded with water (likely the Great Southern Sea) that has flooded many of the rooms; within the city, water is also used in special water forcefields (that function much like Ward gates) and there appears to be some connection between Glyph magic and water^{[Blood Omen 2]}.

  

• The unknown architects of the Lost City also apparently had water in mind; the teleporter pad to the city was on an island in the Lake of the Dead, and though the city itself seemed to be in a desert location, one of its rooms was flooded^{[Blood Omen]}. Eventually by the events of Soul Reaver the Lake of the Dead had apparently collapsed, becoming the Abyss^{[Soul Reaver]}. Amy Hennig has stated that there was indeed a connection between the Lost City, the Lake of the Dead and the Abyss which had yet to be revealed, but did not elaborate further. The ruins in the Elder's Lair beneath the Abyss may be the remains of the Lost City.

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  Water has several other strange properties in the Legacy of Kain series. On two occasions in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, water was used to create 'portals', with Raziel creating a Warp Gate out of pond in Vorador's Mansion to reach the Water Forge^[Defiance] (see Water-Related items) and the Elder God summoning a Time Portal for Kain out of a pool in Vampire Citadel^[Defiance]. The martyred circle guardians of Nosgoth's early history also seen watching visions of the Sarafan war in a water-filled Viewing basin in the Sarafan Stronghold in Blood Omen^{[Blood Omen]}.

• Water based life was apparently prevalent in Nosgoth, with several fish and amphibian species observable throughout the series^{[Soul Reaver 2][Blood Omen 2][Defiance]} and fishing and shipping industries common in some places (particularly in the Wharves in Blood Omen 2^{[Blood Omen 2]}, though ships could also be seen inLegacy of Kain: Soul Reaver ^{[Soul Reaver]}and were implied but cut content in Blood Omen^{[Blood Omen]} - see HMCS Bitter). Blood Omen and era following Blood Omen maps also depict large sea-serpent-like creatures, though none of these has so far been observed in the series; nevertheless, the two arguably largest lifeforms seen, unique entites the Elder God^{[Soul Reaver][Soul Reaver 2][Defiance]} and the Mass^{[Blood Omen 2]} both bear the features of large marine animals, with the Elder God especially linked to water in his appearances.

See also

• Bodies of Water