Mama Robotnik
Member
You might recall that last year, I made a thread sharing all the discoveries I had made regarding the cancelled Legacy of Kain game. I've made a significant number of further discoveries over the last few days, and feel confident that I can now speculate on the possible first section of the game.
I discovered the DeviantArt profile of Andez Gaston, which led me to his portfolio. Andez and his brother Anderson were hired by Eidos as concept artists for the game, and produced a wealth of material of which I have only recently found the bulk of. For the first time, some of the disjointed segments of information and artwork are starting to connect to each other
This thread will try and surmise how the game would have begun, using the assets, conclusions based on the notes found in the artwork, the image filenames given by the artists, and the story lore. It is guesswork of course, but not without reasoning.
The End of Legacy of Kain: Defiance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoI-8-CVbzo
The ruins of The Pillars and The Seer
Kain visits the burning ruins of The Pillars of Nosgoth, the epicenter of the massive magical explosion that has just devastated and doomed the land. (1)
Here Kain meets The Seer, a mysterious being that his younger self met briefly in the future in Blood Omen 2. (2)
The Seer informs Kain of The Dark Prophecy, which is the Hylden equivalent of the vampires own Scion of Balance prophecy. The nature of this prophecy is uncertain. (3)
She explains that the Hylden General/Sarafan Lord is commencing the events of Blood Omen 2 (conquering Meridian/defeating and eventually being defeated by Kain's younger self in the future/returning to the Demon Dimensions in shame).
She explains that as Kain has now exposed the existence of The Elder, and killed his time-travelling agent Moebius, a second tier of the invasion is beginning. She explains that The Hylden King intends to wake his forces, hidden in the world, and rule the land now uninfluenced by the ancient vampires and Moebius' machinations. (4)
The Seer explains that a foothold has already been gained at the now-vacant Malek's Bastion, and suggests Kain begins his quest by travelling there. She warns Kain that due to the Hylden's magic, he will not be able to access the summit of the bastion in his bat form and must travel there on foot. (5)
The Journey to Malek's Bastion
Kain travels North from The Pillars to reach Malek's Bastion.
During his journey, demons are already beginning to raid Nosgoth from the Demon Dimensions, and carnage is spreading across the land. Kain must fight many demons who are after his blood. (6)
The magical fallout from the Pillars collapse has also mutated some of the nearby humans of Nosgoth into twisted beastial creatures. Kain must also overcome these abominations. (7)
Reaching Malek's Bastion
Picure taken from Blood Omen.
Kain reaches the base of Malek's Bastion, a Sarafan military compound secured on the flat plateau of a shaped mountain. Using a series of ancient vampire transport gates built into cliff walls, Kain ascends the mountain. (8)
This area is called The Bridge.
Kain eventually reaches a chamber where an ancient elevator will ascend him the rest of the way and into the heart of Malek's Bastion. (9)
Malek's Bastion
Kain emerges in the frozen bastion and explores.
The Animated Armor
Kain discovers that the Bastion is not empty. Animated suits of armour, possessed by the green glowing aura of disembodied Hylden, attack him on sight. (10)
The Reaver Forge
Hidden in the maze of corridors, Kain discovers an ancient vampire Reaver Forge, revealing that the mountain is one of their constructs. (11)
Kain overcomes the Hylden Armor Soldiers and the Reaver Forge puzzle, and imbues the Soul Reaver with a new ability.
The Soul Mine
Kain descends beneath the bastion and into the mountain itself. He discovers an ancient mine used to ferry materials by cart to a facility below. (12)
Kain also discovers the bodies of many slave workers. (13)
Secret Underground Chambers
Following the mine cart tracks and overcoming the Hylden Armor Soldiers, Kain discovers a secret buried complex. (14)
The Soul Machine and the Hylden Organic Core
Kain discovers The Soul Machine, an ancient device that was previously used by Malek to infuse the souls of Sarafan troops into animated living armor. With Malek defeated by Vorador, the Hylden have attached an organic piece of technology to the machine to enhance its capability. The machine is now reaching out of this reality and into the Demon Dimensions, retreiving the exiled Hylden souls and infusing them into living armor. (15)
Kain destroys the machine.
The Boss Arena
After destroying the machine, Kain enters a boss chamber to fight a powerful foe. (16)
Kain soundly defeats the Boss and leaves Malek's Bastion.
Further events
We have no more artwork or disclosed locations from which to establish where in Nosgoth the story takes Kain next. Wherever Kain travels to, the following events are expected to take place.
The Hylden Return
The Hylden in their pure form return to the world of Nosgoth and commence their invasion.(17)
The Soul Reaver
In some unknown fashion, Raziel is awoken.
Supporting notes
These notes address each of the numbers scattered in the text above, as an attempt to evidence the proposed events.
(1) Kain ends the last game staring at The Pillars. The screenshots are found on the portfolio of a Crystal Dynamics staffer and show the area in a time not covered in any of the games. Crystal Dynamics staff may have done this initial work before the bulk of the project was moved over to Ritual Entertainment in 2004.
(2) The only prophet in the games who exists in this era is The Seer, and the concept art attached looks incredibly similar to her. She also knows Kain very well when she meets his younger self during the future events of Blood Omen 2.
As a prophecy exists to be told, someone must tell it to Kain and she seems to be the only possible candidate.
(3) The Hylden General repeatedly calls Kain "Dark One" so any Dark Prophecy as delivered by the Hylden may refer to his future. It also fits in with idea of each of the two ancient races having parallel prophecies. In Defiance both the Hylden and the Ancients predicted Raziel and Kain's fateful battle at Avernus. While the Ancients also predicted the Scion of Balance, it was never revealed what parallel prophecy the Hylden had made. This could be the Dark Prophecy.
(4) The Hylden King is uncorrupted as per the art. He must have somehow survived the effects of The Binding as The Seer and The Builder did. As he has not directly been involved in any events or mentioned up until this point, he could be somehow asleep somewhere, in stasis with his troops and protected.
(5) There must be some explanation given as to why Kain cannot simply fly up the retreat as he did in Blood Omen.
(6) This explains the demon concept art, and Soul Reaver 2 shows us that immediately following the Pillars collapse, demon raids became common.
(7) Soul Reaver 2's grim future shows us mutants created by the corrupted landscape. If the corruption comes from the Pillars, then it seems possible that those near to their collapse would suffer immediate ill effects.
(8) The artwork shows devices very similar to the teleportation gates in Defiance. The art also shows multiple devices across distant platforms, suggesting they are part of a teleportation puzzle of sorts.
(9) The concept pieces have "elevator" in their filenames.
(10) In Defiance, the green aura is indicative of Hylden possession.
(11) The concept pieces have references to "reaver forge" in their filenames.
(12) The concept pieces refer to the mine as being part of the "soul machine" section.
(13) There are no humans in the Bastion as per Kain's visit in Blood Omen 1. As the machines are active and the mine still in use (as evidenced by the minecarts), it makes sense that humans were being held here as slaves and used to mine ores. These ores were likely used to forge the armors and fuel the soul machine.
(14) The corridors are also labelled as being part of the "soul machine" section.
(15) The art labels the attached Hylden Technology as organic.
Malek had machines of a similar nature in Blood Omen 1, which Kain shut down. However, consider Moebius and his facility. Moebius was like Malek, a member of the Circle of Nine and had many time machines scattered around the world. Soul Reaver 1 reveals that deep underneath his lair, there was a collossal ancient time machine called the Chronoplast. The "Soul Machine" beneath the bastion could be Malek's equivalent.
(16) The screenshots and concept art label the area as being a "boss chamber".
(17) As these creatures are elegant and match the murals shown in Blood Omen 2, they have clearly never been exposed to the Demon Dimensions. The possibility exists that they have been asleep, protected and hidden in the world, and survived in this statis during the binding of The Pillars.
The existence of The Seer and the Builder in Blood Omen 2 as purebreed Hylden, evidence that the binding can be survived with the right planning. The Hylden General being the de-facto leader of the Blood Omen 2 corrupt Hylden, suggest that the Hylden King does not control or exist with this faction.
Final words and bonus artwork
If you would like to visit the portfolios where these finds were made, follow the links at the top of the thread.
To finish this OP, I'm going to use my next post to attach all the miscellaneous art I have uncovered from this cancelled game, in case you are interested.
I hope you enjoyed this attempt to put together the jigsaw that is Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy.
I discovered the DeviantArt profile of Andez Gaston, which led me to his portfolio. Andez and his brother Anderson were hired by Eidos as concept artists for the game, and produced a wealth of material of which I have only recently found the bulk of. For the first time, some of the disjointed segments of information and artwork are starting to connect to each other
This thread will try and surmise how the game would have begun, using the assets, conclusions based on the notes found in the artwork, the image filenames given by the artists, and the story lore. It is guesswork of course, but not without reasoning.
The End of Legacy of Kain: Defiance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoI-8-CVbzo
Kain is now cured of the corruption and madness that Nupraptor infected him with. Raziel and Ariel are gone, and the Pillars of Nosgoth have just exploded and triggered the apocalypse. Moebius is dead for good this time, the Elder is no longer shrouded and the Hylden are free. It is immediately after the events of Blood Omen, Kain stands on the balcony of the ruined vampire citadel, overlooking the devastated land.
The ruins of The Pillars and The Seer
Kain visits the burning ruins of The Pillars of Nosgoth, the epicenter of the massive magical explosion that has just devastated and doomed the land. (1)
Here Kain meets The Seer, a mysterious being that his younger self met briefly in the future in Blood Omen 2. (2)
The Seer informs Kain of The Dark Prophecy, which is the Hylden equivalent of the vampires own Scion of Balance prophecy. The nature of this prophecy is uncertain. (3)
She explains that the Hylden General/Sarafan Lord is commencing the events of Blood Omen 2 (conquering Meridian/defeating and eventually being defeated by Kain's younger self in the future/returning to the Demon Dimensions in shame).
She explains that as Kain has now exposed the existence of The Elder, and killed his time-travelling agent Moebius, a second tier of the invasion is beginning. She explains that The Hylden King intends to wake his forces, hidden in the world, and rule the land now uninfluenced by the ancient vampires and Moebius' machinations. (4)
The Seer explains that a foothold has already been gained at the now-vacant Malek's Bastion, and suggests Kain begins his quest by travelling there. She warns Kain that due to the Hylden's magic, he will not be able to access the summit of the bastion in his bat form and must travel there on foot. (5)
The Journey to Malek's Bastion
Kain travels North from The Pillars to reach Malek's Bastion.
During his journey, demons are already beginning to raid Nosgoth from the Demon Dimensions, and carnage is spreading across the land. Kain must fight many demons who are after his blood. (6)
The magical fallout from the Pillars collapse has also mutated some of the nearby humans of Nosgoth into twisted beastial creatures. Kain must also overcome these abominations. (7)
Reaching Malek's Bastion
Picure taken from Blood Omen.
Kain reaches the base of Malek's Bastion, a Sarafan military compound secured on the flat plateau of a shaped mountain. Using a series of ancient vampire transport gates built into cliff walls, Kain ascends the mountain. (8)
This area is called The Bridge.
Kain eventually reaches a chamber where an ancient elevator will ascend him the rest of the way and into the heart of Malek's Bastion. (9)
Malek's Bastion
Kain emerges in the frozen bastion and explores.
The Animated Armor
Kain discovers that the Bastion is not empty. Animated suits of armour, possessed by the green glowing aura of disembodied Hylden, attack him on sight. (10)
The Reaver Forge
Hidden in the maze of corridors, Kain discovers an ancient vampire Reaver Forge, revealing that the mountain is one of their constructs. (11)
Kain overcomes the Hylden Armor Soldiers and the Reaver Forge puzzle, and imbues the Soul Reaver with a new ability.
The Soul Mine
Kain descends beneath the bastion and into the mountain itself. He discovers an ancient mine used to ferry materials by cart to a facility below. (12)
Kain also discovers the bodies of many slave workers. (13)
Secret Underground Chambers
Following the mine cart tracks and overcoming the Hylden Armor Soldiers, Kain discovers a secret buried complex. (14)
The Soul Machine and the Hylden Organic Core
Kain discovers The Soul Machine, an ancient device that was previously used by Malek to infuse the souls of Sarafan troops into animated living armor. With Malek defeated by Vorador, the Hylden have attached an organic piece of technology to the machine to enhance its capability. The machine is now reaching out of this reality and into the Demon Dimensions, retreiving the exiled Hylden souls and infusing them into living armor. (15)
Kain destroys the machine.
The Boss Arena
After destroying the machine, Kain enters a boss chamber to fight a powerful foe. (16)
Kain soundly defeats the Boss and leaves Malek's Bastion.
Further events
We have no more artwork or disclosed locations from which to establish where in Nosgoth the story takes Kain next. Wherever Kain travels to, the following events are expected to take place.
The Hylden Return
The Hylden in their pure form return to the world of Nosgoth and commence their invasion.(17)
The Soul Reaver
In some unknown fashion, Raziel is awoken.
Supporting notes
These notes address each of the numbers scattered in the text above, as an attempt to evidence the proposed events.
(1) Kain ends the last game staring at The Pillars. The screenshots are found on the portfolio of a Crystal Dynamics staffer and show the area in a time not covered in any of the games. Crystal Dynamics staff may have done this initial work before the bulk of the project was moved over to Ritual Entertainment in 2004.
(2) The only prophet in the games who exists in this era is The Seer, and the concept art attached looks incredibly similar to her. She also knows Kain very well when she meets his younger self during the future events of Blood Omen 2.
As a prophecy exists to be told, someone must tell it to Kain and she seems to be the only possible candidate.
(3) The Hylden General repeatedly calls Kain "Dark One" so any Dark Prophecy as delivered by the Hylden may refer to his future. It also fits in with idea of each of the two ancient races having parallel prophecies. In Defiance both the Hylden and the Ancients predicted Raziel and Kain's fateful battle at Avernus. While the Ancients also predicted the Scion of Balance, it was never revealed what parallel prophecy the Hylden had made. This could be the Dark Prophecy.
(4) The Hylden King is uncorrupted as per the art. He must have somehow survived the effects of The Binding as The Seer and The Builder did. As he has not directly been involved in any events or mentioned up until this point, he could be somehow asleep somewhere, in stasis with his troops and protected.
(5) There must be some explanation given as to why Kain cannot simply fly up the retreat as he did in Blood Omen.
(6) This explains the demon concept art, and Soul Reaver 2 shows us that immediately following the Pillars collapse, demon raids became common.
(7) Soul Reaver 2's grim future shows us mutants created by the corrupted landscape. If the corruption comes from the Pillars, then it seems possible that those near to their collapse would suffer immediate ill effects.
(8) The artwork shows devices very similar to the teleportation gates in Defiance. The art also shows multiple devices across distant platforms, suggesting they are part of a teleportation puzzle of sorts.
(9) The concept pieces have "elevator" in their filenames.
(10) In Defiance, the green aura is indicative of Hylden possession.
(11) The concept pieces have references to "reaver forge" in their filenames.
(12) The concept pieces refer to the mine as being part of the "soul machine" section.
(13) There are no humans in the Bastion as per Kain's visit in Blood Omen 1. As the machines are active and the mine still in use (as evidenced by the minecarts), it makes sense that humans were being held here as slaves and used to mine ores. These ores were likely used to forge the armors and fuel the soul machine.
(14) The corridors are also labelled as being part of the "soul machine" section.
(15) The art labels the attached Hylden Technology as organic.
Malek had machines of a similar nature in Blood Omen 1, which Kain shut down. However, consider Moebius and his facility. Moebius was like Malek, a member of the Circle of Nine and had many time machines scattered around the world. Soul Reaver 1 reveals that deep underneath his lair, there was a collossal ancient time machine called the Chronoplast. The "Soul Machine" beneath the bastion could be Malek's equivalent.
(16) The screenshots and concept art label the area as being a "boss chamber".
(17) As these creatures are elegant and match the murals shown in Blood Omen 2, they have clearly never been exposed to the Demon Dimensions. The possibility exists that they have been asleep, protected and hidden in the world, and survived in this statis during the binding of The Pillars.
The existence of The Seer and the Builder in Blood Omen 2 as purebreed Hylden, evidence that the binding can be survived with the right planning. The Hylden General being the de-facto leader of the Blood Omen 2 corrupt Hylden, suggest that the Hylden King does not control or exist with this faction.
Final words and bonus artwork
If you would like to visit the portfolios where these finds were made, follow the links at the top of the thread.
To finish this OP, I'm going to use my next post to attach all the miscellaneous art I have uncovered from this cancelled game, in case you are interested.
I hope you enjoyed this attempt to put together the jigsaw that is Legacy of Kain: The Dark Prophecy.
