Kain watched with an evil smirk on his face as he watched his human slaves, the once-proud people of Willendorf, now lost without their noble lion, the fallen King Ottmar. Kain watched as the starving, tortured humans slowly built his palace. Some considered it an act of blasphemy to build a palace
around the Pillars of Nosgoth, but in Kain's mentality was simply this, 'I am the last Pillar, so where better to build my empire?'
But Kain was nervous, despite his regal façade, because he was the only one. If the humans found out that the vampire lord was alone, even Kain did not believe that even he could hold them back. All of Kain's attempt to make any other vampires had failed miserably. The humans that had taken his blood had all died horrible and almost instantaneous deaths. It was to be expected, though, Kain was not made via the traditional blood-gift. Mortanius--or was it the Unspoken--had made Kain through the dark arts.
Kain looked up at the Pillars, the nine stone monuments rising into the stratosphere. Each of the Pillars was the purest white, save for the Pillar of Balance which stood black and corrupted, just like Kain's soul. Kain
looked down at the working humans and saw one of them staring at the Dark God, his pickaxe clenched in his hands.
"You there!" Kain shouted, "Back to work."
"Damn you, vampire!" the human shouted. Kain's eyes darkened as he slowly reached for the Soul Reaver. Kain moved slowly toward the human, smiling, beckoning him closer. The human swung his pickaxe; the blade singing as it flew through the air. Kain moved out of the way effortlessly, the blade of
the pickaxe driving into the ground.
In one swift movement, Kain brought the blade of the Soul Reaver up, severing the human's head. The rest of the human slaves stood aghast as Kain picked up the head and threw it to the feet of his elderly overseer.
"Let this be a lesson to the rest of you!" Kain shouted, "No one challenges me!" The humans quickly went back to work as Kain walked off to his temporary home.
- - - - The Sovereigns of Nosgoth - - - -
After years of construction, Kain's palace was finally completed. The Pillar of the Mind had already begun to crack. In less than a decade Kain was sure it would crumble. Much to Kain's surprise, he soon learned of other clans of vampires across the far lands of Nosgoth. Kain knew he could not defeat them alone. Humans were afraid of Kain, but they would not be of any use in battle. They would rather embrace death than fight for Kain.
Kain needed answers, and there was only one place he could think of that could give him such insight. Kain moved north, past the ruins of Coorhagen, past the abandoned gypsy camps and to the caverns to the north. It had been nearly half a century since Kain first met Moebius, the soothsayer stirring his flaming cauldron, letting visions of the past, present and future swirl before the vampire's eyes.
Now the cavern lay silent, the fire in the pot had long since burned out. Kain held his hand over the kettle, the fire roaring to life. Kain stared into the flames, seeing nothing but hot, dancing light. "It was too much to hope for." Kain growled, shaking his head. In anger, Kain kicked the cauldron, the metal pot spinning on its chain.
Suddenly, the walls began to rumble. Slowly, the circular room began to rotate, revealing a secret passageway. 'Astounding,' Kain thought, 'Moebius was much more resourceful than I thought.' Kain drew the Soul Reaver and cautiously moved into the dark recesses of the late Timestreamer's hidden palace. A statue of Moebius, carved from a single black stone stood facing an ancient clock. Kain gazed in awe at the architecture of the inverted clockwork. 'I have never before seen anything quite as wondrous as this.' Kain mused as he moved slowly to the lowest regions of the clockwork.
He moved slowly until he reached a dark, spiraling hallway. There were portals, filled with swirling darkness and light. Kain gazed into the first timestream. There he watched as Vorador stormed a castle, slaying many members of the Circle of Nine. Kain watched as Malek, the last of the Seraphan, faced the vampire lord and lost. Kain watched as Malek was punished, his soul fused to his slick, ivory armor. Kain watched as Hash'ak'gik, the Unspoken, took control of Mortanius' mind and body, guiding him to slay the kind and beautiful Guardian of Balance, Ariel.
Kain gazed into another timestream, seeing Nupraptor's madness poisoning the minds of the rest of the Circle of Nine. Kain watched as Mortanius masterminded the young noble's murder and resurrection. Kain watched as he arose from his own crypt, as he slew his assassins and as Ariel's ghost sent him on his
dark quest. Kain watched as the Circle members were slain one by one. Nupraptor was first, then Dejoule, Bane and Malek, then Azimuth, Moebius, Anacrothe and lastly Mortanius.
Then Kain saw as he was given the choice, to sacrifice himself and restore Nosgoth or rule the land in its damnation. For Kain, the choice was easy. Kain looked into other timestreams, seeing the answers to his problems. Soon, Kain would have his army and his empire.
Kain moved to the east of the Pillars, past the forbidden regions of the Ünerhund Forest. With the Soul Reaver in his hand, the vampire slashed his way through the forest until he found what he was looking for. The ancient Tomb of the Seraphan lay before Kain. A twisted smile spread across the vampire's lips. As Kain approached, two guards quickly took up arms against him.
"Defenders of the legacy of the Seraphan," Kain scoffed, "you stand here for all your lives defending the rotting corpses of the Seraphan Saints." Kain laughed, "What a meaningless existence."
The white-armored guards quickly drew their halberds, aiming them at the ebon-clad vampire. "No one shall pass by here!" the taller of the two said.
The shorter smiled, "Any last words, demon?"
"Only two." Kain said with a smile, grasping the hilt of the Soul Reaver tightly, "Vae victus!" Kain rushed forward, his sword quickly slaying the first of the two guards. The second guard's halberd slashed Kain's arm. The guard watched in terror as the wound closed almost instantly. Kain turned and slashed at the guard with his sword, the tip of the blade opening a deep cut across the guard's throat. As the guard's blood began to pour out of his neck, Kain grabbed the guard's hair and drained him of the hot sanguine fluid.
Kain licked his lips and dropped the bloodless corpse to the ground. He put the Soul Reaver into the sheath on his back and moved into the dark, quiet hallways of the Seraphan Tomb. Kain passed by the graves of average Seraphan warriors and stopped at the sealed crypt at the heart of the catacombs, the final resting place of the Seraphan Saints, the greatest warriors known as the Angels of Hope.
Kain pulled the stone sealing the tomb free, releasing a gust of sepulchral air. Kain lit the torches in the room, gazing at the stone sarcophagi that lay within. A place reserved for Malek lay empty, as the fallen Seraphan had met his fate at Vorador's sword in Dark Eden. The other six caskets were occupied by the greatest Seraphan Warriors: Rahab, the Fearless, Zephon, the Wise, Melchiah, the Bold, Dumah, the Mighty, Turel, the Mysterious, and lastly, the greatest Seraphan Warrior, Raziel, the True.
Kain opened the graves, the corpses inside were in surprisingly good shape even after a thousand years of death. The stone caskets had kept out any additional form of decay the bodies might had endured in the ground. Kain moved to the center of the room. He concentrated hard, knowing just how taxing what he was about to do would be.
Kain closed his eyes, feeling a portion of his soul leave his body. He watched as his soul moved to Raziel's crypt and flowed into his body. In an instant, the rigid corpse sat up in his sarcophagus, moaning loudly. The dry, grey skin slowly began to gain a more vampiric appearance.
What remained of Kain's soul flowed out of Raziel's body and moved to Turel's crypt animating his long dead corpse. Kain's dark gift bestowed unlife to Turel and moved to Dumah, then to Rahab, to Zephon and lastly to Melchiah, the last small portion of the anima vanishing into the last of the resurrected Seraphan. Kain smiled, weakened by the birth of his chyldren. "Welcome, my sons." Kain said, "Welcome to my Nosgoth."
Fifty years had passed since Kain resurrected the Angels of Hope as his own sons. The Pillar of the Mind had fallen and the Pillars of Energy, Nature and Conflict were already beginning to crack. Kain took his sons to his armory. "Choose wisely, my sons," Kain said, "a weapon is merely an extension of your soul."
Almost instinctively, the young vampires drew weapons that they knew they could use. Melchiah chose a sword with a golden hilt and a black blade. Dumah chose a heavy axe with a double blade. Turel chose a scythe with a gleaming, curved blade. Zephon chose a pair of razor-sharp daggers. Rahab chose a sturdy longbow and a satchel of silver-tipped arrows. Raziel chose long staff, one end sharpened to a pike, the other topped with a rigid spearhead.
Kain smiled as he watched his sons familiarize themselves with their new arms. He watched as they drew from skills they had retained from life. "Come with me, my sons." he said, beckoning them to follow. Kain and his six lieutenants moved into the throne room, where eight of the nine Pillars still stood. If we are to conquer Nosgoth--assure our places as rulers--we must first purge Nosgoth of any other bloodlines than our own. The other vampire lords must die."
Melchiah bowed to Kain, "Master, must we kill all of them? If the masters are killed, their fledglings will grovel before you."
Kain raised a hand, his fingers already beginning to take on a claw-like appearance, "Well thought, Melchiah, but we must purge the world of all vampires if we are to triumph. The offspring of the six of you will be our empire. We cannot risk our supremacy by letting the chyldren of another vampire live."
"Where do we begin, Master Kain?" Raziel asked. Kain smiled, he had taught his sons well.
