The Legacy of Kain is a series of
video games developed by
Crystal Dynamics, and published by
Eidos. It tells the story of the mythical land of
Nosgoth, especially the lives of the two main protagonists - Kain, the unfortunate nobleman born again as a vampire, and
Raziel, one of Kain's servants who was "killed" by
Kain in an act of sheer jealousy. The series has managed to hit a number of different platforms over the years, first arriving on the PC way back in 1997. It has reached phenomenal success in the western world, and has a large cult following.
There have so far been four games released for the series, and another two are planned for release in the near future. I have listed them in chronological order in terms of plot and story, NOT release date:
Two sequels, cleverly titled
Soul Reaver 3 and
Blood Omen 3, will be released hopefully in late 2003.
History of Nosgoth
I'm going to do my best in so as to not spoil the plot for each game, so I will simply explain the beginning and end of each. I have also emitted the latest two games, as I believe that both do not add anything to the story, and neither finish the story anyway.
Before recorded history, and before Kain was even born, there stood nine pillars - each guarded by a pillar guardian. These guardians were kinown as the Circle of Nine, and they swore to protect the pillars, which kept Nosgoth in the balance and stopped it from corrupting. But when Ariel, the balance guardian and leader of the Circle of Nine, was murdered, shockwaves were sent through the Circle, and each Guardian became more and more corrupt. In turn, so did the pillars. As did Nosgoth.
Events of Blood Omen:
Centuries later, Kain was born into the world. The son of an aristocrat, he lived the lucky life of a nobleman, until one day he was murdered by bandits and theives. The necromancer Mortanicus gave him a second chance to exact his revenge, but at a cost. Kain was to take the form of a vampire, and thus inherit all the weaknesses and strengths that come with it. Feuled by blind rage, he agreed and set out to take his revenge on those that killed him.
With his killers dead and his hunger sated, Kain now seeked a cure for his new state. Guided by Mortanius and the spectre Ariel - now bound helplessly to the decaying Pillars she once served - Kain hunted down each of the corrupt pillar guardians now poisoning Nosgoth. Only with their deaths could the Pillars be healed - and only by restoring Balance would Kain be released from his vampiric curse.
At first Kain was disgusted with his appearance and netal state, but over time he adapted and grew to accept his immortality and vampirism, a growing dislike of humankind growing inside him. On his travels to rid Nosgoth of corruption, he stumbled across the Soul Reaver -- an aincient sword that devoured the souls of it's enemies. Kain also stumbled across a time streaming device, devised by the Time Guardian Moebius. Moebius managed to get Kain involved in human conflict, between Nosgoth and the armies of the Nemesis from up North. against the vampire Vorador's wishes, Kain used the time streaming device to travel back 50 years. Here, Kain hoped to kill King William The Just (who would become the Nemesis), hoping to save Nosgoth from destruction. Upon killing William, Kain returend to the present day Nosgoth, only to find that William's death started a genocidal war against vampires, led my the deceiver Moebius himself.
After watching Moebius and his blood-thirsty mob kill the vampire Vorador, Kain realized the obvious -- he was the last surviving vampire in Nosgoth. While Kain had succeeded in saving the people of Nosgoth, he has also managed to single-handedly kill his entire species.
At the end of his journey, and as last surviving vampire of Nosgoth, Kain confronts his destiny and relaises that he is the balance guardian, the hier to Ariel's throne. He had two choices: either he would have to kill himself, thus ending the corruptness of the pillars; or become the Balance Guardian and lunge Nosgoth further down the spiral. Through his utter hatred of humankind and it's alienating ways, he chose the latter option. Nosgoth was never the same.
This apocalyptic act completed the Pillars' destruction - the mighty columns toppled as Kain sealed their ruinous fate - and damned Ariel to ceaselessly haunt the dilapidated Pillars she once served. Until the Balance is restored, she can never be released.
Events of Blood Omen 2
Events of Soul Reaver:
A millenia later, Kain has set the throne of his new empire, ironically (yet intentionally) at the foot of the unrestored balance pillar, constructing a great palace around the rest of the pillars. He created six lieutenants whom would help him keep control of Nosgoth, which was now dominated by the vampires, with little forces of the human race left.
The evolution of the vampire is different to that of a human. A vampire goes through sudden changes of metamorphosis rather than billions of years of slow changing. When Kain's first lieutenant, Raziel, had surpassed his leader by growing bat like wings, Kain was furious, and in an act of egotisitcal jealousy, he tore the wings from Raziel's back and had him tossed into the Lake of the Dead, where he would burn forever in the fiery depths of the Abyss.
As Kain before him, Raziel was given a new lease of life, this time by a mysterious preternaturally aincent god, dwelling at the bottom of the abyss in a squid like form. He gave Raziel the chance to exact his revenge on Kain, much like Kain was However, unlike Kain, Raziel had transfomred over centuries of pain, water burning at his flesh until he was left as a shadow of his former self - a disfigured, rotting skeletal figure.
But unlike Kain, Raziel was not born again as a vampire - but as a Soul Reaver, a devourer of souls from the dead. Raziel also had the ability to travel between the land of the dead and living, and could only exist in the material world for a certain amount of time before disintegrating and returning to death. Souls helped Raziel from dying, much like blood did in his previous life.
As Raziel drew closer and closer to tasting Kain's soul, Raziel had slaughtered his brother lieutenants, who had metamorphasied into hideous creatures, due to the centuries past. Once he reached Kain at the aincient Time Portal in the south, Kain and Raziel fought, only to have Kain retreat into the time portal and have him tossed back in time. Raziel follows suit, hoping to get his revenge soon..
Events of Soul Reaver 2