A montage of dream-like images.

KAIN (VO)
From the shards of tattered dreams I rose, unwilling, tossed upon tides of pain that flowed and ebbed, and left me – searingly – awake, and – more revoltingly – alive.

Kain wakes.  He is lying on a cot inside a stone and wood tower, which is decorated with aging yet grand furnishings. 

KAIN (VO)
It was then I saw her, for the first time.

One wall is open to a balcony, and Kain sees a woman standing out on the balcony.  Her features are cold and beautiful, and clearly vampiric.

UMAH
Good evening.  We did not expect you to awaken so soon.  Already, you surprise us.

KAIN (VO)
My mind was in fragments, like shattered glass.

KAIN
Where am I?  I don't remember…

UMAH
Yes, it was said your memory would be affected by your long slumber.  That will pass, in time.  I am Umah, and I am here to help you.  Know that your name is Kain, and you were once a power in the land.

KAIN
(Getting slowly to his feet)
I know my name.  But my past…I remember fragments, only.

UMAH
That you awoke at all is a miracle.  When we found you, there was but the barest thread of life left in you.  We nurtured it, fed it, and now you rise and walk again.

KAIN
And what is this place?

UMAH
You are in the city of Meridian, capital of the Land of Nosgoth, the land you once sought to conquer and rule.  Tell me, since you remember your name, do you also remember your nature?

CLOSE-UP of Kain's mouth when he speaks, revealing his fangs.

KAIN
Of course.

UMAH
Then let me show you the future.  You have been asleep for two hundred years.  In that time, this is what has become of Nosgoth.

Kain approaches Umah, and we see a beautiful panorama of the Slums, and some of the City.

UMAH (CONT.)
You were a great general, commanding an army of vampires, but the powers you opposed were too strong for you.  You were struck down, your armies defeated, scattered and destroyed.  Everyone believed you to be dead.

KAIN
Who defeated me?

UMAH
The Sarafan, an army of fanatical humans sworn to eradicate all vampires from the world.  A new leader brought them together and, wielding a new kind of magic, deadly to our kind, was able to destroy your army and kill most of the vampires.  You were defeated in mortal combat by this leader, the Sarafan Lord.
But that is not the end of the story.  Under the guise of protecting the land from the vampire menace, the Sarafan seized control of all of Nosgoth, and their rule is not kind.  For two hundred years, the Sarafan have enslaved the humans under their iron rule, and hunted down and destroyed every vampire they could find.

KAIN
They have not succeeded, however.

UMAH
Not yet, and now, with your help, it is our hope to crush the Sarafan, and restore order to the city.

KAIN
The natural order?  Vampires preying upon humans?

UMAH
Naturally.

KAIN
You said "our hope."  Who are you?

UMAH
We are the Cabal, the vampire resistance.  We work to undermine the Sarafan at every turn.  But we are losing.  With the new magic they employ, the Glyph Magic, they are able to find us and kill us.  Our numbers are dwindling. Without help, we will not survive.  We need you, Kain.

KAIN
Of course, you did not bring me back simply out of kindness.  There must be a price.

UMAH
We need you to help the resistance.  Our faces are known, they kill us on sight.  But you are ancient history, long since dead and buried.  You can go where we cannot.  That gives us a small advantage.

KAIN
How splendid for you.  And why do you suppose I would do this?  What is to be my reward? Your eternal gratitude?

UMAH
Have you changed so much?  The Sarafan Lord defeated you.  Don't you want to kill him?  When you have destroyed him, you can continue your ascent to power, restore your army, rule the land at last.  Does the lust for vengeance and power no longer stir you?  Are you so dead? 

KAIN
I seem to remember that I played the pawn once before.  It ended badly.

UMAH
This time, you will prevail.  We are simply your allies, not your betrayers.  What we want from you is open and plain, with no hidden paths.  If you succeed, so do we all.

KAIN
Are you asking me to trust you?

UMAH
We must trust one another. Together, we can defeat the Sarafan Lord.  Once he is dead, his order will collapse, mindless fools that they are.  But there are dangers other than the Sarafan which must be overcome.

KAIN
(Angrily)
I care not for any dangers.  They will fear me, do you hear?  Tell me where to find the Sarafan Lord.  I'll have him buried within the hour.

UMAH
Such arrogance!  If it were so easy, we would have done it ourselves, Kain.  And you are far too weak to fight him yet.  He is protected, too, by other vampires.

KAIN
Vampires in service to the Sarafan?  Are they mad?

UMAH
They value their lives.  While they serve the Sarafan Lord, he lets them live.

KAIN
I will enjoy destroying them.

UMAH
You would be lucky to survive one such encounter, until you grow stronger.  But should you prevail, then you will be able to absorb their veins, and thus gain new abilities.  To our kind, these are called the Dark Gifts.

KAIN
I look forward to meeting these traitors to our kind.
(Kain doubles over)
Ahh…

KAIN (VO)
My senses spun, my body ached… weakness overcame me…

UMAH
You have the Thirst upon you.  Come, vampire.  It is time for you to feed.

KAIN
Yes…