Wolf Form Dungeon

The Wolf Form Dungeon
Locations article
The exterior of the Wolf Form Dungeon as it appears in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.
Introduced in	File:Wiki-Icon-BO1.png Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996)
Appearance(s)	File:Wiki-Icon-BO1.png Blood Omen

The Wolf Form Dungeon, also known as the Wolf Cave, was an underground 'dungeon' in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain which contained the Wolf Form ability. Situated in a cave on the southern banks of the Lake of Tears, the dungeon was visited by Kain in the early chapters of Blood Omen.

Profile

The Wolf Form Dungeon first appeared in the chapter Nupraptor as Kain made his way from the Pillars of Nosgoth to Nupraptor's Retreat to confront Mind Guardian Nupraptor.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}

Shortly after leaving the Pillars and going through the Light Dungeon Kain's path passed the shores of the Lake of Tears. Here Kain was confronted by a series of tall stepped cliffs that were too high for him to reach and he was forced to enter a nearby cave.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}

Within Kain discovered the Wolf Form and was able to test its usage in combat, as well as its applications in maneuverability and jumping. Returning outside, Kain was able to use Wolf form to jump up the cliffs and continue his journey onwards to the Energy Bolt Dungeon and Nachtholm.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}

Design and Layout

The Wolf Form Dungeon cave entrance (bottom) in front of the inaccessible Lake of Tears

Externally the Wolf Form Dungeon resembled an ordinary cave at the foot of the cliffs beside the Lake of Tears. The cave entrance did contain a pair of moon cave style doors, although these did not appear in regular gameplay.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}

The interior of the dungeon had several distinct environs, including a cavernous 'natural cave' area and an area apparently outside on a grassy hilltop - however the dominant design inside consisted of plain blood-red walls with occasional decorative torches and doors of the same shade with a decorative 'liquid' design.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}

Broadly the Wolf Form Dungeon could be split into four areas:

The opening cavern

The first area was the entrance cave. Consisting of a natural cavernous environment, the cave featured a wide corridor northwards with a mural of the wolf form on the floor. A passage to the right led to a square room containing a Save altars, while the opening at the top led to the next area.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

The main chamber

The next area was an internal room area, beginning with a stone pathway flanked by two Spike pits and a raised balcony on the right with two Dandy throwers on it. The path forward led up a wooden staircase and through a corridor into the main room of the dungeon - an expansive spike pit with several square stone ledges dotted around the outside, with several corpses disposed of in the pit. A narrow bridge led to the center of the pit where a square platform decorated with a wolf form mural marked the position of the Wolf Form. Upon collection of the item, the bridge leading back would retract, forcing Kain to take a different path through the dungeon. Using the wolf form to jump Kain could then cross small sections of the spike pit to jump between platforms. Jumping left to a square platform, Kain could jump down to a U-shaped platform along the south wall where a Dandy thrower awaited and follow it to jump back up to a rectangular platform on the west wall, where he could find a floor button disguised as a chain link. Retracing his step to the first jump, Kain could then jump north to another square platform with an knife thrower on it, before jumping east to an L-shaped platform along the northwest corner of the room and follow it down, finally jumping to a straight platform leading south out of the room in the southeast corner via a door opened by the switch. The corridor from here led down through the balcony seen at the start, allowing Kain to dispose of the Dandy throwers he had seen previously and collect a blood beaker before heading onto the next area.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

The external area

The third area was a large open outdoor area in an unknown location surrounded by trees on the northern side and hemmed in by cliffs. Kain exited a cave in the south of the area in front of a small waterlogged area and could proceed to jump up several stepped cliffs, over another waterlogged area and finally upto another cave entrance in the north marked by two Blood beakers which led to the next area. A heart of darkness artifact and a flay artifact could also be found at the far eastern end of the first 'step', with two more hearts and a flay at the far east of the top 'step'.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

The final area

The final area returned to the internal room design and structure, with Kain entering onto a square stone platform in the south in front of a large spike pit. Another square platform was positioned in the middle of the pit which Kain could reach using the wolf jump, putting himself in the range of a pair of Knife throwers from the edges of the pit which were too far to reach. Jumping forward to reach the far corridor, Kain could reach the closed exit door and a confrontation with a city guuard. Evading of killing him, Kain could follow either of the side passages as both turned and led south, narrowing between spike pits to purple spheres, finally reaching the side platforms where each knife thrower awaited with a floor button - once both were activated the exit door in the north would open, allowing Kain to reach a teleporter which returned him to the mural in the initial cavern area.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3][Blood Omen strategy guide]}

Notes

• As with most other dungeons, the Wolf Form Dungeon is not named in game and it is only given a vague letter code in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain—Official Game Secrets, the official guide to Blood Omen.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen strategy guide]} Silicon Knights Blood Omen FAQ The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain does give the "Wolf Form Dungeon" title in its section dealing with the nearby bat beacon, but otherwise only refers to the building as "a cave to the west of the Pillars".
• The Lake of Tears area outside the Wolf Form Dungeon is grouped with other 'overland' locations under the "Map 0001" designation as "Map 0001 Sect 60". The rest of the Wolf Form Dungeon is counted in files under "Map 0012", with "Map 0012 Sect 01" referring to the cavern entrance and Save altar, "Map 0012 Sect 03" referring to the large room where the Wolf Form is collected, "Map 0012 Sect 02" referring to the mid-way external cliff area and "Map 0012 Sect 04" referring to the last internal area. The Developers' level select labels the area as "VVLF" under the "OL1" designation, grouping it with the first areas of the game.^{[Blood Omen]}

• The open Wolf Cave in game
• The closed Wolf Cave in files and level select.

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• The Wolf Form Dungeon is one of the few 'dungeon' areas to have external area included. This is still counted in files as part of the dungeon as opposed to the main overland areas, but it is unclear where the external area is positioned in relation to the rest of the game world.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}
• Although the wolf cave is found open, the cave is seen closed with a moon gate covering the door in the map files within the game. Ordinarily the door does not appear in this state within the game, although utilizing the Developers' level select can make the door appear and block entrance to the area (with no effect from the regular Day/night cycle) - circumstances such as loading the wolf cave and immediately exiting or loading a nearby area and travelling straight to the cave were likely to cause the door to appear and prevent access in this manner.^{[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/3]}

Gallery

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See also

• Wolf Form
• Lake of Tears
• Nupraptor (chapter)