Prologue

Lit in the unholy glow of a distant sunset and burning pyres, a man (a vampire) is being hoisted into the air, impaled on a high wooden stake by two armoured warriors.   As we pull away, we see other vampire corpses impaled, littering the countryside.  

The camera continues to pull out, and we see the above scene contained within a pool of water, nested in the middle of a large, circular table with arcane symbols carved into it.  Around the table are a cluster of wizards, both male and female, young and old.  The room is dimly lit, but we can make out what they are wearing.  They appear to be watching the events in the magic pool quite intently.  

Suddenly a door swings open, flooding the room with blinding light.  A jagged sword rips through the closest wizard, and the vampire Vorador appears from behind the falling corpse.

Her flesh is blasted from her bloody bones.

Vorador laughs darkly as he corners the last remaining wizard in the chamber.  The wizard tries to cast a spell, but is panicking.

Final Wizard
(whimpering)
Malek!

There is the sound of an approaching man in armour, rushing along the stone tiled floors.

Vorador
(laughing)
Call your dogs! They can feast on your corpses!

He fires a blood gout spell – the projectile hits the victim, forcing a stream of blood to be jettisoned from the body into Vorador’s open mouth.  He then dodges sideways. 

Malek rushes in through the doorway, poleax drawn, to behold a silent chamber that is vacant except for the carnage.  Vorador materializes behind him, and strikes a blow to the back of his head.

Malek finds himself bound and stripped naked in the center of a dark chamber, lit only by candle flame.  Arcane runes and symbols of power are drawn into the floor.  Scars adorne his body.  On the ground before him is an empty suit of armor, propped up on a stand, giving it the impression that it has some form inside it. 

Mortanius
For failing the Circle, Malek of the Sarafan, you are hereby damned! 

Malek’s spirit is stripped from his body and fused into his armor.

Mortanius
The pleasures of the flesh are no longer yours.  You have but one purpose, damned one.  You will serve us for eternity.

Centuries later, Ariel stands by a wall, which a shadow is cast against, moving slowly, but with purpose.  She turns and sees a distinctive, but unknown shape silhouetted against a light, raising a cruel knife.  Ariel’s scream penetrates the darkness. 
A pillar is seen darkening.  Fractures crawl across its surface.

 

A young man, Kain, enters the local tavern as he passes through town:

Barkeep
The tavern’s closing - best be on your way, stranger.

Kain
What, no mug of ale for a weary traveler from distant Coorhagen?  I can reward you well, for I am of noble blood.

Barkeep
I stay open for no man in these dark times.  Things come with the night that no sane man would welcome.
 

Kain VO
And so I left - cold of heart and soul.  Forced to the road, and the long, bitter night.

Brigand
That’s him!

Assassin
End it - now!  

Kain finds himself in the Underworld – populated by lost souls that howl within the abyss.  Their shapes twist and writhe in their fiery oblivion.  Through this ghostly burning land, the necromancer Mortanius strides as its master.  Kain is strung up between two posts, transfixed with a sword.  He struggles incessantly, as if trying to deny his fate. 

Awakening within his tomb:

Kain VO
I awoke to the pain of a new existence, in a dank womb of darkness and decay.

He discovers an array of items:

Forged by the Serioli, the legendary weapon masters of Nosgoth, this blade will serve me well, in life and beyond.

As it was borne from hellfire, forged by the Necromancer’s magic, my armor resists fire and provides me with strong defense.

Within the walls of these chambers I could find respite.  And, if I so chose, resume my journey when my weariness abated.

Kain VO
The world had changed to my eyes.  I had not expected such cruelty from the light.  For in the embrace of the sun, I could find no comfort, only malice.  This would change in time for the worse, along with other things.

As it begins to rain:

When rainfall comes, vampires are wise to find shelter from its acidic touch.
 

Flay These curious devices hurl bolts of whirling energy and eviscerate my human enemies by stripping ragged flesh from bloodstained bone.

Exiting graveyard:

Kain VO
Hunger and weakness are no bar to vengeance’s call.  I would find my slayers and send them back whence I came.

Vengeance

Kain confronts his murderers:

Brigands - upon seeing Kain resurrected

What trickery is this?

There he is!

I thought we killed you, bastard!

We put you down once - we can do it again!

Kain VO
Their sneering faces were forever etched upon my memory.  I had crossed death for this moment.  My mind was empty save for one thought:  I would kill.

Amidst the confusion of his battle with the assassins, Kain is overtaken by the feral urge to feed.  Just before the final blow is struck, the fledgling vampire tears out the throat of his victim.

After killing the brigands and drinking their blood:

Kain VO
There is no greater release than that from vengeance sated.  With my assassins dead, my quest was over.

Mortanius
‘Tis not over Kain.  These fools were merely the instruments of your murder, not the cause.  Look to their masters.  Look to the Pillars, and gain way to the Fortress of the Mind . . .

Kain comes across a signpost that reads "Ziegsturhl":

Kain VO
This was where the bloody deed of my murder took place.

Crossing a bridge while leaving Ziegsturhl:

Kain VO
The Necromancer had offered me no warning as to what my resurrection would entail, and yet I must confess, in my haste, I had not sought one.  Was his gift a curse?  I would seek the Pillars for an answer.

 

At the first dawn outside:   As daylight chases darkness, the vampire’s power wanes.

At the first dusk outside:   Night dawns. And with it, the vampire grows stronger.