
Kain is standing upon a hill, looking down upon a fiery glow.
Kain: (Thinking) “Next territory to visit was Turel’s. He had always dabbled in forbidden arts, those that drive one insane in a hell of its own making. After his unexplainable disappearance, his children followed in his footsteps. Morlock, the most adept pupil of them all, claimed leadership and drove the Turelhim far into the ground in search of even darker powers. His death at the hands of Raziel must have brought the entire territory into total anarchy. Unfortunately, a plague of supernatural origin decided to decimate their ranks even further. I’d have to move quickly before the Turelhim became nonexistent.”
The sight before Kain is that of burning castles, smoking caverns, rioting villagers, and unidentifiable creatures. As he walks closer, he sees a corpse of the beast; a human torso with a slug-like abdomen, randomly growing spikes, and a brown-yellow skin with dark brown spots along the back.
Kain: (Thinking) “I had encountered these before during my days of destroying Pillar members. They were an experiment of Dark Eden, a mutation from the collaborated efforts of three Guardians. I had no reason to suspect these creatures capable of surviving without their creators, but here they were. Perhaps their arrival was brought on from starvation, since they did seem thinner than what I remembered them to be. If such was the case, then the Turlehim and their human servitors were as good as dead. Still, any surviving Cornels could still be worth my time.”
There will be many challenges for the Player to overcome. The first part will be a maze of burning buildings and falling buildings in which the Player must move through swiftly. Some places will require Kain to incite the flames to unblock paths, while others will require him to outrun the flame’s destruction or die. Another difficulty is the Slug-Men ravaging the human population. They are large, strong, spit acid, and have poisonous blood. If Kain drinks from these creatures, his defenses will be havled for a minute (or less). Also, some Turelhim are trying to fight off the Slug-Men, though not very successfully. The Turelhim are very strong and able to shoot Kain with “Mind Blast”, pushing him back very far. However, their blood is very potent and clean.
Within the Spectral Realm, things are much the same. The Slug-Men do have wraiths, but they give no poisonous effect to Kain in this realm. The Turelhim’s “Mind Blast” actually carries more power to it, causing more damage.
Kain will eventually reach an open courtyard within castle walls surrounding the base of a mountain. As soon as Kain enters, a gate is lowered behind him, trapping many humans with him as well. From the shadows of the doors into the mountain, Ellois exits. He is three feet taller than most Dumahim, his teeth are twice as long, and his ears are much larger and wider. To his side he carries a huge battle axe, bloodied from slaughtering Slug-Men. He points at Kain.
Ellois: “What are you? My eyes are blood and weary.”
Kain: “I am a vampire. It seems that your kingdom is being torn apart by an infestation. This must be a sad day for you.”
Ellois: “Loss is no reason for pity. I am still greater than most. I am Ellois, surface Cornel of the Turelhim. Very few can boast as much honor as I.”
Kain: “I definitely can. I am Kain, your General’s maker and commander. I’ve come to reclaim my empire, though there’s not much left of your clan.”
Ellois: “Again, loss is no reason for pity, so expect none from me!”
Kain: “Should I also not expect your loyalty?”
Ellois: “The Turelhim have been without Turel longer than the other clans have missed their Generals. With the death of Morlock, we’ve been with almost no rule. It has been a liberating era. We’ve almost formed a democracy.”
Kain: “How touching. Of course I cannot allow you to defy me and live.”
Ellois: “I can accept that. And if you die?”
Kain: “I will not.”
Ellois: “Then kill me quickly. Waiting for the end is boring.”
The Player will be confined to the courtyard along with a crowd of scared people. No matter how many people are killed, they will always be replaced by others. Ellois will actively seek out Kain and swipe at him with the battle axe, killing any human caught in his aim. The best form of attack against him is to use “Stone Skin” and “Berserker”, jumping to dodge the axe attacks. At the loss of one-third of life, Ellois controls the battle axe with his mind, spinning it in the air towards wherever Kain goes. Ellois also hides himself with the illusion of being a human, running around with the crowd. To find him, the player must allow the battle axe to follow Kain into the crowd, killing many people and hitting Ellois. At another one-third loss of life, Ellois loses his temper, throws the battle axe at the cave entrance, and then proceeds to eat all the trapped people there. This keeps from more appearing and also gives him one-third of his life back. Swiping with his claws, he now hits the ground with both fists, throwing Kain up into the air. He also uses “Mind Blast”, but they do the same amount of damage as a normal Turelhim.
After Ellois is killed, his wraith has half of his original life amount. His weakness is that the wraiths of his victims actively attack him as he passes by. The Player should use “Spectral Vacuum” right next to Ellois, causing his energy to gradually go down without hardly any effort. After Ellois is consumed, Dumuzi shows his face.
Dumuzi: “Consuming Ellois has allowed you to hide your spectral form as that of any normal wraith. It will help you avoid your enemies when time is of the essence. Travel into the mountain and find your last surviving Turelhim Cornel, Kain.”
Dumuzi disappears, leaving Kain to collect the Battle Axe before he proceeds into the mountain. At first there seems only to be tunnels, many of which go nowhere. Some are filled with Slug-Men, others with Turelhim, and some with both. The tunnels will be supported with wooden beams, but the fires have spread to them, forcing the Player to again move fast or be buried underneath the collapsing caves. The further down the player gets, the more the area resembles an underground church filled with Celtic artwork. In the main Cathedral/Circle of Power, there are three circles of stones, one within another. Each stone has a symbol upon it, and only the correct alignment will open the next room. There will be a hint that Kain should shift into the Spectral Realm, and three tunnels will reveal themselves as he/she does. In each one is enough wraiths to refill Kain’s spiritual energy, plus some unusual slug-Man wraiths to boot. Shifting into the Material Realm reveals three statures; one young, one old, and one mature women. One the wall is the image of one of the three. Whatever the image is, the statures not of that image must be destroyed. Success reveals how to arrange one circle, but failure brings forth two Turelhim. Once the circles have been correctly arranged, a colored window of the three women disappears, revealing a new room.
This room is long and narrow with Celtic art carved deeply into the stone walls and glowing bright blue. The floor is littered with skeletons of all kinds, and Stephed is reading aloud a dead language from a stone tablet. Stephed is actually smaller than most Turelhim, his large ears connect to his neck, his hands are twice the size they should be, his nose is wide and flat, he wears a red dress painted with black Celtic iconography, and his form leaves blue shadows as he walks.
Stephed: “Finally, it is time.”
Kain: “Whatever do you mean by that?”
Stephed: “The Voices! Only I hear them, and they only listen to me! I’ve given so many sacrifices, and they’ve finally decided to gift me with their blessed touch.”
Kain: (Thinking) “Hidden in a hole with ancient writings and sleeping among the rotted dead, I thought Stephed a madman, hiding away from the harsh realities outside.”
Kain: “Tell me, do you realize who I am? Do you even know who you are?”
Stephed: “I am the loyal servant of the Voices , Stephed, willing to abide by their biddings. You are obviously the key to my ascention. Come here, look for yourself!”
Stephed jumps to a section of the wall, pointing out details unreadable to Kain.
Stephed: “ ‘A sword from heaven shall land upon the earth and use his might to strike down the mortal coil of the chosen.’ For the longest time, I thought it would be Ellois, but that axe you wield says otherwise.”
Kain: “If these walls predict your death at my hands, then you might have a window into the future. I have no need for a lunatic in my army, and you are more useful to me dead than alive.”
Stephed: “I am more useful to myself dead than alive. Prepare for the unleashing! This joyous moment will be recorded in history forever!”
Stephed will not be hard to defeat as his only unique powers are a more powerful “Mind Blast” and shooting blue lighting from the walls. His swipes are unblockable, but still avoidable with side-stepping. When he’s down to two-thirds of life, the walls become electrified and glow even brighter. When he’s one-third of his life, all the walls become so electrified that they harm Kain if touched. Stephed continues to yell out in a forgotten language till he is destroyed.
Kain: (Thinking) “I thought him a great disappointment. Ellois was a great challenge to be respected, but Stephed was an embarrassment. I shifted planes to consume what I thought would be an easy meal. I found a great foe waiting for me I hardly expected.
When the Player shifts into the Spectral Realm, Stephed’s wraith is electrocuted intensely by the walls, and the dead nonexistent air swirls around him, forming a funnel of spectral energy. The energy changes his form, making him look like a giant barracuda.
Stephed: “Behold! I am the cosen!”
Stephed continues to grow, and Kain leaves the room. The fight becomes a chase, forcing the Player to run away or be gnawed upon for massive damage. When the Player reaches the tunnels, Stephed will occasionally get caught by the narrow tunnels, allowing Kain to harm Stephed a little. As Kain jumps out of the doorway outside of the mountain, Stephed finds that he is too large to fully escape, but not too large to snap at Kain.
The trick is to use Soul Mask and hide amongst the frightened wraiths. As Stephed overlooks the wraiths before comping down a few, the Player can drop “Soul Mask” and attack Stephed. When Stephed’s essence is lost, the barracuda form mists away, leaving a wallowing and vulnerable Stephed to be consumed.
Kain: (Thinking) “Such a coward was Stephed. As his powers left him, he cried out to his beloved Voices, pleading them to return. Destroying him was an act of pity.”
After Kain consumes Stephed, Dumuzi’s face appears.
Dumuzi: “I know what you want to ask me, Kain. The Elder God was not part of Stephed’s metamorphosis, nor was I.”
Kain: “Then by whom? I am tired of hidden forces trying to manipulate me, eternally pulling my strings to make me dance to their songs.”
Dumuzi: “Those Voices are a dying breed, and you need not to worry about them anymore, nor anything like them. I’ve seen to it personally.”
Kain: “Do you consider yourself to be my guardian angel? I do not need a smothering higher being trying to protect me. Have you forgotten who I am?”
Dumuzi: (laughs) “I see that you’ve grown accustomed to consuming large souls. It’s a healthy development, since you still have more to consume. Stephed’s given you the ability to create destructive force fields with but a thought. This will enable you to remove certain obstacles, living and otherwise. Your next destination is towards the Zephonhim, but I suggest you travel through Ushtenheim and visit abandoned memories.”
Kain: “Uschtenheim is by far out of the way towards the Silenced Cathedral. What trick are you trying to play here?”
Dumuzi: “Consider my advice as compensation for what I’ve requested of you so far. When you reach the town, you’ll understand.”
Dumuzi disappears.
Kain: (Thinking) “I had already received one of Dumuzi’s gifts, and it had left a bitter taste. The desire to consume was increasing, turning normal wraiths into sustenance only. I yearned to consume more, but I thought it wise to fast for awhile and see how I would be able to handle my desires. Perhaps a detour was just what I needed.”
