Back

Returning to the swamp in the future era, Raziel comments on the still-sealed entrance to the time-streaming chamber.

Raziel V.O.
Beyond this edifice lay my sole hope of escaping this demon-infested wasteland.
The time-streaming device contained therein offered my only prospect of journeying back into Nosgoth’s early history.
Unless I discovered some means of breaking this seal, I was condemned to be stranded here eternally.
 
 
 

Raziel discovers that the mountain pass is open in this era; he can proceed to explore the northern mountains, beyond.

Raziel V.O.
The passage of time had indeed cleared my way forward, enabling me to explore the northern mountains of Nosgoth.
I was anxious to discover if some evidence of Janos Audron’s existence might still remain.
 

Raziel enters the ruined village of Uschtenheim for the first time.

Raziel V.O.
(with a touch of sarcasm)
Here I discovered the quaint hamlet of Uschtenheim, now long-abandoned and collapsing into ruin...
Legend claimed that Janos Audron terrorized its villagers until the Sarafan hunters ferreted him out and destroyed him.
If there was any truth to the old tales, the lair of the infamous vampire could not be far away...

The Ruined Aerie

Raziel enters the canyon, and discovers the ruins of an ancient cliff-dwelling civilization.  The majestic facades are collapsed and toppled, as though some great cataclysm occurred here ages ago.
Raziel stands on a terrace beneath the cliffs, surveying the devastated architecture.

Raziel V.O.
This edifice was clearly not crafted by human architects.  As the figure beneath the balcony silently attested, these were the aeries of winged beings.
Undoubtedly, I stood before the mountain refuge of the legendary Janos Audron – but the entire sanctuary lay in ruin, collapsed under the force of some ancient cataclysm.
As I suspected, the Time-Streamer’s deception ensured that I was centuries too late to unearth anything of consequence here.

Raziel scans the ruined canyon, and sees a narrow pass leading off to the west.

Raziel V.O.
With nothing behind me but the wasteland I had traversed, I resolved to press on and explore these canyons further.

Raziel hears footsteps behind him, and turns to see Kain approaching.

Raziel
(sarcastic; but slightly good-humored)
Oh, no.  Every time you turn up something monumental and terrible happens.
I don’t think I have the stomach for it.
 

 
Kain
(chuckles)
No drama this time, Raziel.

Raziel
You are persistent, crossing time like this to follow me.
Still waiting for that coin of yours to land on its edge?

Kain joins Raziel on the terrace overlooking the canyon.

Kain
I’m biding my time.
He glances up at the ruined balcony above –
I see that Moebius has played a little trick on you.

Raziel
Yes - he clearly doesn’t want me to meet this ‘Janos Audron’.

Kain looks away thoughtfully –

Kain
(knows better)
Perhaps...
(then with sarcasm)
Or maybe he merely hoped that it would harden your heart against me to see this wasteland which I single-handedly authored.

Raziel
My heart doesn’t need hardening, Kain.
If I even suspected that destroying you would make any difference, I would do it this instant.

Kain
(laughs approvingly)
I knew you’d see through them, Raziel.
Janos is indeed the key to your destiny, but you’ll need to find your own way back into Nosgoth’s past.
Make no mistake though, Raziel – you and I are now in great danger.
We are irritants here – malevolent forces are being marshaled to eliminate us.

Raziel
You talk as though we’re allies.

Kain
Regardless of your sentiments, Raziel, in their eyes – we are.

Raziel
Well, they’re certainly trying to eliminate you, Kain, there can be no doubt of that.
I am assaulted relentlessly with demands for your demise.
Whatever it is that you’re plotting, they’re scared to death of you.
(pause)
As for me, I suspect they made a grave error when they allowed my unique resurrection.
I don’t think they know how to destroy me.

Kain
(knows better)
You mustn’t underestimate them, Raziel.

Raziel
And who exactly is this diabolical ‘they’ to which we keep referring?
If there’s some grand conspiracy going on, the right hand doesn’t appear to know what the left is doing.
Even Moebius seems to be caught out at every turn.

Kain
Moebius is a puppet, Raziel – haven’t you realized that yet?
That’s the sweetest irony in all of this – Nosgoth’s ‘great manipulator’ is their plaything.
(pause)
But the ones pulling the strings haven’t shown their faces, yet.

Raziel
They don’t like us unwriting their carefully choreographed history, though, do they?

Kain
(correcting him)
You must understand, Raziel – we haven’t unwritten history, we’ve merely rewritten it.
The future flows around our petty actions, finding the path of least resistance while admitting only the slightest alterations.  This is the reshuffling you felt, when you refused to kill me.
And remember, Raziel, we are irritants in this regard, as well – history will not allow the introduction of a paradox.

 
Raziel
And if events cannot be reshuffled to accommodate the change?

Kain
It is the irritant who’s expelled.
Bear in mind that this may be exactly the outcome our enemies are trying to provoke.
We must tread very carefully.

With this admonition, Kain vanishes.

Raziel sees the ancient Vampire murals in the Air Forge

Raziel V.O.
The scenes I discovered here were unambiguous...
This race of winged beings – the architects of the Pillars, and the creators of the Reaver – were Nosgoth’s first vampires.
Their blood-thirst appeared to be a curse, inflicted upon them by their vanquished enemies.
These images confirmed the truths that Kain had divulged to me, but I had been too incredulous to accept.
(pause)
I struggled in vain to see how the pieces fit together...
How Kain intended to escape the dilemma of his destiny, and what role he had plotted for me...
And why Moebius, and the dark powers with which he seemed to be allied, were so desperate to see Kain dead, and so intent on me being the instrument of his execution...  
 

 
Raziel forges the Reaver with the elemental power of Air

Raziel V.O.
As the Reaver drained the forge of its vital energy, the tempest receded...
I recovered myself, and paused to admire my newly-forged weapon, now imbued with the elemental power of Air.
Thus armed, I hoped that I now finally possessed the means to escape this wasted land.

Raziel encounters a fractured stone door –

Raziel V.O.
This elemental Reaver, I discovered, had the power to obliterate barriers that were cracked or compromised.
At last, I had the means to open that ruined time-streaming chamber I discovered so long ago in the swamp.
Now perhaps I could leave this wasteland, and return to an era when Janos Audron still lived.

 
Raziel activates the time-streaming device in the Swamp

Raziel V.O.
I had no choice but to act purely on blind faith.
There was no way to tell what era this device was tuned to, and I had neither the knowledge nor the means to set the machine myself.
I hesitated only briefly... then, throwing the switch, I hurled myself into oblivion, and relinquished my will to the hand of Fate.