Nosgoth

Nosgoth is a fictional realm that serves as the setting of the Legacy of Kain series. The land appears to have a temperate climate, similar to that of northern central Europe.

Geography

In Blood Omen, Nosgoth is a vast realm with a diverse landscape, including mountains, forests, plains and swamps. The world is sickly as of late, affected by a plague due to the corruption of the Pillars of Nosgoth. It is seen that during the time of the original Sarafan priesthood, the world is just as healthy.

File:Nosgoth.jpg

The land of Nosgoth as depicted at the time of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.

Several historical periods are shown after the collapse of the Pillars in Blood Omen, and the decay of the world is evident in all of these. For example, in one, we see that much of the world has become wild and overgrown with rampant new mutant species of plants and animals, monster plagues cover the land and death is everywhere; the world looks as though weeping in a constant deluge of mythic proportions.

In Blood Omen II, 400 years later, the land seems to be in the middle of an Industrial Revolution, brought on by the technology of the Hylden. Ecologically, the world is quite frail. From what can be seen of the outside, the more visceral portion of the world's death has passed, and has now given way to an arid and barren desert-like environment, with only minor, diseased shrubs remaining of the plant life, and nearly no animal life remaining at all.

About a thousand years later, in the time of Soul Reaver, the death of the world seems complete and discernible history has ended. Vampires have choked the air with the black smoke and soot from their massive furnaces, blocking out the sun and sky permanently. Humanity is nearly extinct, hidden deep within the mountains. The world is barren, dry and devoid of life, with a rocky landscape and frigid climate.

Cosmology

The Circle of Nine is the name that refers to the order of sorcerers whose duty it is to guard the Pillars of Nosgoth. As there are nine Pillars, there are nine guardians at any given time. Guardians are endowed with limited immortality (e.g. infinite life span, though not invulnerability) and given magical powers related to the Pillar they serve. Should a guardian die, their place will be taken by a person who is born at the precise moment of the previous guardian's death.

When the Pillars were raised, the original nine Guardians were vampires. Since vampires could no longer reproduce, a result of the Hylden curse, they would turn any new human guardians that were called to serve into vampires. This tradition continued until Moebius and Mortanius, who had been called to serve as Guardians of Time and Death, revolted against them and claimed the Pillars for humankind.

Inhabitants

Nosgoth is inhabited primarily by humans, but other sentient species have existed as well. Before recorded history, Nosgoth was home to the Ancients and the Hylden. The Hylden eventually cursed the Ancients with bloodlust and immortality, thus creating the Vampire race that exist in the modern era. Nosgoth is also the home of the enigmatic Elder God.

Ancients

The Ancients, also known as the Ancient Vampires, are a blue-skinned winged race who populated Nosgoth in times long before the Legacy of Kain series in which they are found chiefly take place. While they are otherwise relatively human in appearance, they possess blue skin, large wings and three-fingers hands that distinguish them from humans.

The Ancients were worshipers of the Elder God, and believed its doctrine of a pre-fated world. The Ancients eventually tried to convert the other chief race on Nosgoth at the time, the Hylden, to their religion, starting a war that proved devastating for both races. To end the war, the Ancients banished the Hylden to another dimension and raised the Pillars of Nosgoth to seal the passages between the two realms. Before the banishment could be completed, however, the Hylden cursed their enemies with sterility, a thirst for human blood, and immortality.

The Ancients and their history slowly died out over the ages, and the only one to survive long enough to be seen in the games was Janos Audron, who commissioned and guarded the Reaver, a weapon intended to be used by a prophesied hero who would restore the Pillars to the vampires.

Vampires

The Vampires are an immortal race who have populated Nosgoth throughout the events of the Legacy of Kain series in which they are found. Strongly similar to the traditional portrayal of the vampire, there are a number of defining characteristics which render their race unique. Vampires "evolved" from a race known as the Ancients, after their rival race, the Hylden, forced the curse of immortality and bloodlust upon them. Notable vampires throughout the series include Kain, Vorador, and Umah. Vampires have many known weaknesses, such as sunlight, fire, water (which has an acidic effect) and impalement.

Unlike traditional vampires, the species in Legacy of Kain has numerous means of propagation. While never explicitly seen to turn humans into vampires by the 'traditional' means of biting them, it is quite possible that they are capable of doing so. Another means of vampiric imbuement involves use of a relic known as the Heart of Darkness and necromantic rituals.

Descendants of Vorador

The vampiric descendants of the vampire Vorador harness their inner strengths and manifest these powers as 'Dark Gifts'. Every vampire possesses their own unique Dark Gift, and other Vampires can effectively steal these Gifts by killing others and drinking their blood, as performed by Kain throughout Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain.

The descendants of Vorador constitute both the race of vampires descended from Janos Audron, Vorador and the Ancients, and the race created by Vorador himself following his supposed resurrection some time after the events of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The vampires were massacred by the rising Order of the Sarafan, a sect of crusaders who strongly opposed vampirism. In the times during Blood Omen, a large portion of the vampire race dwells within the Termogent Forest regions.

After Vorador's apparent resurrection during the unchronicled events after Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Vorador uncharacteristically joined Kain in his conquest of Nosgoth. Vorador had the strength to create other vampires, and thus was instrumental in Kain's plans. Together, they raised a second vampire horde. This second race survived for centuries, despite being fervently hunted by the renewed Sarafan Order and its advanced technological Glyph Magic. They continued to exist up until the downfall of the Sarafan Lord, after which it is assumed that Kain, in his continued attempts to dominate Nosgoth, disposed of them before attempting to raise his own vampire lineage.

Descendants of Kain

The vampiric descendants of the vampire Kain are less diverse than their predecessors. As Kain was not a descendant of Vorador he began an entirely new heritage of vampirism upon founding his empire. Due to the corruption in Kain's soul, the vampires descended from him literally 'evolve' over long periods of time into grotesque forms. There are six known clans of vampires, each of whom take on traits highly similar to that of their father Lieutenant, rather than developing new traits of their own.

Hylden

The Hylden are traditional enemies of the Ancients, first introduced in Soul Reaver 2, where the protagonist Raziel saw murals depicting them in the subterranean chamber under the Pillars of Nosgoth, as well as in the Reaver forges. Ancient history depicted them as the bitter enemies of the winged Ancients, the original vampires. They were similar to the Ancients in power, but "different in method and intention." Both wanted dominance of Nosgoth, and warred for a thousand years to claim it. The Ancients won the war, banished the Hylden to a demonic dimension.

The history of the Hylden in Nosgoth is affected by the plot of the games, which uses time travel a great deal to affect the course of recorded history. In the original timeline (post Blood Omen 1, which itself had history being changed), the Hylden were utterly defeated without Kain even truly learning of their existence. The events of Blood Omen 2 and Kain's memory of having experienced those events were only brought into existence at the end of Soul Reaver 2, when Kain saved Raziel's life, thus allowing him to resurrect the ancient Janos Audron, whose blood was required to open the Hylden Gate, a portal between the Demon and Material Realms. After using Janos to open the Gate, the Sarafan Lord then used his powers to draw other Hylden into the Material Realm.

Sarafan

The Order of the Sarafan are a group of warrior-priests dedicated to the eradication of vampires. Their crusade ended about 500 years before the start of the first game. The symbol of the Sarafan was similar to an eagle with outstretched wings. In the games, many Sarafan have been shown, but only seven have been named.

The name of the order was taken up again seven hundred years after the original order was disbanded by a mysterious entity known only as the 'Sarafan Lord'. In contrast with its benevolent appearance, the order was really concerned with the conquest of all of Nosgoth at which point they proceeded to instate a dictatorial rule over the land. This Sarafan Order shares nothing with the original save its name and desire to destroy the Vampire race.