Part 23

From there, the narrative swaps over to Raziel. Every odd-numbered level features Kain, even numbered levels feature Raziel, so I'll include 1 level per update.

Here, we see Raziel, in the Elder God's presence once again.

Watch it here:

Video - Raziel's intro

Elder God:
"Surrender, Raziel. Abandon this petty rebellion."

Elder God:
"It was I who made you. Your life had played out, and in my grace, I spared you."

Elder God:
"You are my reaper of souls."

Elder God:
"You have no other purpose, no higher destiny - just this."

Elder God:
"Accept your calling, Raziel. Let go of these vain hopes. Relinquish your will, and feed."

Raziel, emphatically:
"No."

Elder God:
"What do you profit from this defiance?"

Raziel: Awesome line. Watch the movie if only for this.
"There's some grim satisfaction in infuriating you."

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

Elder God:
"The Wheel of Fate must turn..."

Elder God:
"...all are redeemed in the cleansing agony of birth, death and rebirth."

Elder God:
"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?"

Raziel:
"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."

Raziel:
"I refuse to do your will."

Elder God: Another awesomely done line
"I can see into your heart, Raziel."

Elder God:
"It is not your will, but cowardice that keeps you here."

Raziel:
"How so?"

Elder God:
"You know what fate awaits you when you leave the underworld."

Elder God:
"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."

Raziel:
"I could not deny it."

Raziel:
"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."

Raziel:
"But that sentence was no worse than the stalemate I now endured."

Raziel:
"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:
"Enough."

Raziel:
"Yes. I submit."

Elder God:
"Very good."

Elder God:
"Indulge your hunger."

Elder God:
"Yes... embrace your calling, Raziel."

Elder God:
"You will find that, just as defiance has its price..."

Elder God:
"...so obedience has its rewards."

Raziel:
"And submission is not always what it seems."

Raziel's first level is basically an introduction to him as a character, much like Kain's is.

So, we start out with the first task being a Raziel staple: a jumping puzzle.

Making a circuit around the room and climbing upwards, we slowly make our way to the exit.

For whatever reason, Fraps didn't completely remove the fps counter from some of these.

Reaching the next room, Raziel surveys his surroundings. What might we have to do now?

Oh, another jumping puzzle. Ok, then.

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

Oh, this was easy - just one jump to the exit.

Elder God:
"Do you believe your worthiness is so easily proved?"

The Elder God deposits some vagrant souls in the room, in various inconvenient-to-reach places. Ahh, so it is a jumping puzzle after all.

Elder God:
"Your way is sealed until you have offered further evidence of your obedience."

Raziel:
"I must feed you before I depart this place."

Elder God:
"You must feed yourself, Raziel."

Raziel, mockingly:
"'The Wheel must turn...'"

Elder God, patronizing:
"Ah - now you understand."

Raziel collects six souls from the room...

Elder God:
"You may go, but remember - you are mine!"

Elder God:
"You can no more escape from me than you can escape yourself."

The next room presents this eerie sight.

And once again the Elder God taunts Raziel with an exit, then blocks it at the last minute.

From behind him, a number of cretins of the underworld crawl out from the cracks in the walls.

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."

So we have a brief combat intro. Notice the Reaver bar to the right of Raziel's health?

Kain has one too. As we fight things, it slowly fills, but drains over time. We can also, at our option, choose to feed the soul of a victim to the reaver (or the blood of a victim, in Kain's case) to increase the bar by about 40%.

When it fills, the Reaver becomes energized, and does much more damage, as well as having a secondary effect in the case of the elemental reavers. (The Light Reaver, for example, briefly blinds anyone it strikes when energized)

The 'charge' can also be expended to produce a great blast of energy, which has varying effects depending on the reaver used. Kain, likewise, has special abilities activated in the same manor. Unlike the powers Raziel gets from the runes in SR1, these are very useful.

Once we've slain all of the ilk in the room, the Elder God grants us an exit.

Elder God:
"You see? Obedience brings prompt rewards."

Watch it here:

Video - Raziel escapes from the Elder God

As Raziel looks over the edge, the mist flashes with a bright light, and begins to swiftly rise up the room.

Elder God:
"Where do you think you're going, little soul?"

The puzzle itself is basically just some hurried jumping maneuvers.

Periodically, the Elder God reaches up and destroys some of the walkway, but Raziel has no problem passing his obstructions.

During this process, he spouts a number of taunting phrases:
Elder God:
"You can't escape!"
"Run faster!"
"Raziel..."
"Embrace your destiny."
"You will never escape."
"Clever, Raziel. Clever, indeed."
"I've endured your game long enough."
"I grow tired of this, Raziel."

And finally, we reach a dead end.

The only option is a leap of blind faith towards this ledge - but we're not going to make it.

At the last instant, Raziel manages to grip the edge of the ledge...

...and precariously hold on.

"Oh shi-"

Elder God:
"No!"

Raziel:
"Clearly my escape had not been anticipated, or my 'benevolent' master would not have expended such efforts to prevent me from going."

Raziel:
"And if my departure displeased him, then that was a victory, however small, for me."

Exiting the chamber, we find that, once again, we were underwater during the whole ordeal. The Elder God seems more like a squid all the time.

If we go to the shaft leading to the surface:

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:
"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."

Seems everything revolves around that one goal.

We take the only path left to us...

Raziel:
"At last, I discovered a conduit into the material realm."

Raziel:
"I would finally escape the spirit world, and take one step farther from my tormentor..."

Elder God, laughing:
"Did you think to receive the same favors after your rebellion as before?"

Elder God:
"No, Raziel. I have no need for you to enter the physical world, so no conduit will be granted."

As he talks, the conduit fades away.

Elder God:
"You serve me adequately as a wraith, and a wraith you will remain."

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."

Once outside the structure (which appears to be a crypt!), we get our first glimpse of the outside world.

Raziel:
"As I emerged, I was granted a vision of what I would become, if I did not escape the spectral realm."

Raziel:
"For these too were agents of my master, hunting the lost souls that struggled to escape the endless twilight of the underworld."

We kill it, for good measure.

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."

Raziel:
"I had to break these bonds, while I still possessed my own will."

Next time: Kain returns to the Stronghold proper, once again trying to find Moebius to get some real answers.