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The Underworld

The camera descends into Moebius' mysterious pool, with a sort of action-wipe to convey the passage of time and distance.  As the scene clears, Raziel is revealed in the depths of the Underworld, kneeling before the Elder God in defeat and exhaustion.  Raziel is starving, suffering.  But he won't submit. The disembodied voice of the Elder God fills the chamber -- his tone is paternalistic and patronizing, with an underlying threat.  Didactic and patient, but with wrath just beneath the surface. 

Elder God

Surrender, Raziel.  Abandon this petty rebellion.  It was I who made you.  Your life had played out, and in my grace, I spared you.  You are my reaper of souls.  You have no other purpose, no higher destiny - just this.  Accept your calling, Raziel.  Let go of these vain hopes.  Relinquish your will, and feed.

From his kneeling position, Raziel glares up at the Elder God, his eyes flashing defiantly.  This is our first close shot of Raziel.

Raziel

No.

Elder God

What do you profit from this defiance?

Raziel

There's some grim satisfaction in infuriating you.

Elder God

My patience is eternal, Raziel.  How many eons can you bear to languish here?

Raziel bows his head, exhausted and weak from hunger.

Elder God

The Wheel of Fate must turn; all are redeemed in the cleansing agony of birth, death and rebirth.  This is the Engine of life - the purifying rhythm of the universe - to which all souls are irresistibly drawn.  Yours is a necessary and noble function, Raziel.

Raziel

Enough of your sermonizing - are you trying to bore me into submission?  Why must this game go on?  We both know what you are.  You're no better than the vampires you so despise -- a voracious parasite cloaking its appetite in a shroud of righteousness.  I refuse to do your will.

Elder God

I can see into your heart, Raziel. It is not your will, but cowardice that keeps you here.

Raziel

steely, almost a statement

How so?

Elder God

You know what fate awaits you when you leave the underworld.  That phantom weapon you bear is a constant reminder, isn't it?  The Sword is waiting for you out there somewhere, and you tarry so as not to meet it.

 

The Elder God knows he has struck a nerve

Raziel

I could not deny it.  As long as I lingered here, defying my captor, I was able to postpone what I feared was my inevitable doom: to become the ravenous spirit imprisoned in the Reaver blade.  But that sentence was no worse than the stalemate I now endured.  Better to face one's destiny than cower from it.

Elder God

Harvester of souls I created you, and to this function, my angel of death, you will return.

Raziel interrupts, frustrated and disillusioned -- 

Raziel

Enough.  Yes.  I submit.

Elder God

Very good.  Indulge your hunger.

A soul materializes in front of the kneeling Raziel, looking frightened and lost.  Weakly, Raziel opens his cowl and draws the soul in.  Raziel gasps as the soul is devoured-- it has a joltingly powerful affect on him.  At the same time, the Elder God too responds with great satisfaction.  The souls Raziel devours are siphoned to sustain him.

Elder God

Yes... embrace your calling, Raziel.  You will find that, just as defiance has its price, so obedience has its rewards.

A patch of the Elder's tentacles uncoil, revealing an exit from the chamber.  Raziel stands slowly to his feet, finally regaining his strength after so long.  He looks hatefully up at the mass of the Elder God.

Raziel

And submission is not always what it seems.

Raziel reaches a cavernous chamber with treacherous drops-

Raziel

Below me swirled an ominous-looking mist.  I knew that if I fell, it would mean my peril. 

The exit is on the other side of the room.  When Raziel approaches it, the Elder God's tentacles close the passage off.  

Elder God

Do you believe your worthiness is so easily proved?  Your way is sealed until you have offered further evidence of your obedience. 

Six blazing eyes appear over the barrier, and six souls manifest throughout the cavern.  Raziel looks around, seeing the set-up.  Disgusted, he acknowledges that he understands --

Raziel

disgusted

I must feed you before I depart this place.

Elder God

You must feed yourself, Raziel. 

Raziel

mocking

"The Wheel must turn..."

Elder God

patronizing
Ah - now you understand. 

Raziel reaps all six souls.

Elder God

You may go, but remember - you are mine.  You can no more escape from me than you can escape yourself.

Raziel approaches the exit of the next room.  Again, the Elder God’s tentacles reach out and seal off the passage. 

Elder God

laughter

Raziel stops.  From behind him comes a slithering, hissing sound. Sluagh begin to peel out of the cracks of the room, advancing on Raziel. 

Raziel

You want this room cleared of its vermin.

Elder God

If you wish to leave it.

Raziel
sarcastically
Your will be done.

Elder God

My good servant.

When all the Sluagh are destroyed, the doorway opens once more.

Elder God

You see?  Obedience brings prompt rewards.

Raziel enters a tall cavern, in which a broken ledge spirals up to the top.  He begins to inch his way toward the first gap in the ledge.

Elder God

Where do you think you’re going, little soul?

The lethal mist below glows brightly, and begins to rise.

Raziel races up the vertical shaft out of the underworld, pursued by the Elder God, who calls out to him:

Elder God

You can’t escape!
Run faster!
Raziel…
Embrace your destiny.
You will never escape.
Clever, Raziel.  Clever, indeed.
laughter
I’ve endured your game long enough.
I grow tired of this, Raziel.

As the terrain crumbles around Raziel, he makes a last desperate leap for an overhang, and pulls himself up out of the shaft.  And just in time -- as Raziel leaps into the chamber above, the Elder God's tentacles grasp for him and topple a massive slab of masonry.  Amidst the chaos, Elder God cries out as he strains to stop Raziel -- 

Elder God

No!

The slab falls, sealing off the opening to the lower shaft.  Raziel stops and regains his composure -- 

Raziel

Clearly my escape had not been anticipated, or my 'benevolent' master would not have expended such efforts  to prevent me from going.  And if my departure displeased him, then that was a victory, however small, for me.

Approaching the bottom of a shaft leading up to the surface of the ethereal water:

Raziel

In the spectral realm, water is as thin as air, putting this opening far beyond my reach.  But once I found my way into the material world, I might to able to swim up there…

Raziel climbs up onto a platform and encouters a closed door.

Raziel

This door would only open when fitted with an appropriate artifact. But to use such an object, I would first have to find my way back into the material realm.

Raziel enters the upper tomb chamber:

Raziel

At last, I discovered a conduit into the material realm.  I would finally escape the spirit world, and take one step farther from my tormentor...

As Raziel nears it, the planar portal begins to vanish.

Elder God

laughter
Did you think to receive the same favors after your rebellion as before?  No, Raziel.  I have no need for you to enter the physical world, so no conduit will be granted.  You serve me adequately as a wraith, and a wraith you will remain.


Raziel stands before the dissipating portal and looks around the room in anger. 

Raziel

So my restraints had not been removed, only loosened.  I would not be held prisoner in the spectral realm - there had to be another way.

Raziel phases through the tomb’s gated window and drops down into the open courtyard.  Several souls hover among the graves here. One of them ascends toward the sky.  As Raziel watches, nightmarish figures swoop in like sharks from outside the courtyard, homing in on the fleeing souls like blood in the water.  They devour the souls, whose light is extinguished.

Raziel

As I emerged, I was granted a vision of what I would become, if I did not escape the spectral realm.  For these too were agents of my master, hunting the lost souls that struggled to escape the endless twilight of the underworld.

When Raziel defeats the Archons, the combat barriers are dissolved.

Raziel

My master's plan for me was ominously clear.  Like these mindless hunters, I existed only to fuel him with souls, siphoning their energy to feed him and his Wheel of Fate.  I had to break these bonds, while I still possessed my own will.

 
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