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Update #25: Raziel discovers a conduit

Raziel continues through the graveyard we left him in...

Raziel:
"There had to be a way to escape the spirit world, without the help my master was pleased to deny me. Only in the material realm would I have a chance to seek my destiny - or change it."

We proceed into another crypt...

...eliminate some shadows...

And after killing them, pass through this gate.

Watch it here:

Video - Raziel discovers a conduit

Raziel:
"In this crypt, I discovered ethereal gases rising from the moldering corpse within."

Raziel:
"As I neared, I felt a distinct spiritual pull - and the closer I approached, the more that pull intensified..."

Raziel:
"In the end, it was not difficult."

Raziel:
"I projected myself down into that tomb and found myself reborn into the material world."

Raziel:
"It was a loathsome vessel..."

Raziel:
"...but with an effort of will, that too could change."

And so we find ourselves back in the Material Realm at last.

These bloodstones, when struck, charge the Reaver rapidly. These are more useful later on.

On our way out, we encounter this puzzle: As we near the door, these heads turn to look at Raziel, and the door snaps shut. They reset again when we move far enough away, but for now, this way is impassible.

Raziel:
"These gargoyles quickened as I drew near, triggering the door to close. I would need to find some means of approaching the door without being observed."

Exiting the crypt through the only other passage, we find...

Watch it here:

Video - Raziel discovers vampire hunters

Vampire hunter 1:
"...she says she won't go near the place."

Vampire hunter 2:
"I tell you the Pillars are haunted."

Vampire hunter 1:
"Haunted!"

Vampire hunter 2:
"I heard a woman's voice, talking and moaning - and there was no one there."

Vampire hunter 1:
"How many vampires have you killed? And you can't face down one ghost?"

Raziel:
"I knew who these were: vampire hunters, scouring the countryside, destroying what had once been my kind."

Vampire hunter 2:
"My god - what is that? A vampire? Or a demon?"

Vampire hunter 1:
"Where?"

Raziel:
"Here."

Vampire hunter 2:
"Get him!"

Vampire hunter 1:
"Quickly! No mercy!"

Raziel kills the vampire hunters, instead showing them no mercy.

Raziel:
"These were Moebius's hunters - mercenaries enlisted in his crusade to exterminate the vampires. His insignia was unmistakable... But this meant I'd been captive in the underworld for centuries. I had lost five hundred years."

Raziel:
"Then I knew what ghost it was that haunted the Pillars - Ariel, the specter of the murdered Balance Guardian. Perhaps she could provide the answers I sought. But first I would have to find a way out of this cemetery..."

We come, then, to this door. We recognize the symbol emblazoned on it: we'll need to re-imbue the Reaver with Darkness before we can pass this portal. Having discovered this and a similar Light-emblazoned door nearby...

Raziel:
"This temple's facade hinted at some ancient Vampire origin - for it bore the sign of the Reaver, and was marked with the elemental symbol of Light. The mystery of the Reaver might be answered within... but this edifice was too high for me to reach."

Raziel:
"Another temple, this one marked with the elemental symbol of Darkness. This edifice, like the other one, was too high for me to reach."

Moving on, we come to another crypt which we can enter through a broken gate.

But as we drop from the window inside...

Hylden 1:
"Raziel..."

Hylden 2:
"Raziel..."

Hylden 1:
"Fallen hero..."

Hylden 3:
"Renegade and traitor..."

Raziel:
"What is this? How do you know me?"

Hylden 1:
"Raziel, what are you?"

Hylden 4:
"Why should any know your name?"

Hylden 2:
"You are nothing..."

Raziel:
"It seemed my method of entering the physical realm was not altogether original. But where had these beings come from?"

It should be noted that this is not the 'true' form of a Hylden. They've simply inhabited corpses much as Raziel did to reach the Material Realm. A sign that the lock on the Hylden's prison is weakening.

We easilly dispatch them, for although they are controlled by Hylden, their forms are weak.

Further through the crypts, we come to this strange symbol. Looks mildly familiar...

Back where we first exited the presence of the Elder God, we place the symbol in the edifice in the door we could not pass...

...and it opens.

We come then to a familiar puzzle: an impassible ravine, but by shifting to the Spectral Realm, the column adjusts position and we're able to jump across.

Beyond...

Raziel:
"This edifice, marked with the elemental Light symbol, was clearly much older than the ruins in the rest of the cemetery."

Raziel:
"The door was far too high to reach. And to open it, it seemed the Reaver would need to be imbued with the power of Darkness."

Raziel:
"Clearly I had more to accomplish before I could discover what lay within."

We shift back to the Material Realm...

...and utterly destroy some vampire hunters by expending a fully charged reaver. Huzzah!

And look - in doing so, we've earned Raziel's first combat ability.

This one's, in my opinion, one of his best moves throughout the game. He does a dodge/roll towards the enemy in question then quickly stabs them about 6 times. This can be chained between multiple opponents, and because of the quick nature of the move and the fast roll as it executes, he can evade multiple opponents quite easilly with it. Kain's, by stark contrast, is more brute force, but leaves him vulnerable for the duration.

Exiting the crypt...

...we find ourselves back in a familiar set of ruins, but this time, we're on top of them, rather then on the ground below.

Crossing them, we come at least to a door we can open.

We're presented with a strange portal.

Raziel:
"As I stepped through, I felt a sense of displacement, as some arcane sorcery transported me away."

Emerging on the other side, we discover more murals, depicting more prophesies, histories and the like.

Raziel:
"This was clearly some ancient ruin of the Vampire civilization. Perhaps here I would finally decipher the riddle of my destiny."

Raziel:
"Throughout these ruins I found murals depicting the seminal events of Vampire history. These scenes commemorated a great war between the Ancient Vampires and their rivals. In triumph, they banished their adversaries from the world, and raised the Pillars as the lock that binds them."

This, we know, is the Hylden being banished.

Raziel:
"The image of the Reaver was inscribed throughout this place, always depicted with reverence. The Vampires’ holy weapon was destined to be borne by their prophesied hero, for whom it was forged. But if this was my destiny, why had the Reaver tried to consume me?"

Raziel:
"This scene depicted the appointment of the original Vampire guardians. Each summoned to serve when the Pillars were raised."

Raziel:
"Each Guardian is aligned to the principal of the Pillar he serves, and the Balance Guardian is the axis of them all."

As we pass further into the chamber, we find a spirit forge, all prepped and ready.

Raziel:
"At last it was done: the Reaver was forged with Darkness."

Raziel:
"As I felt this new power coursing within the wraith blade, I knew that now the Light temple would open to me."

Unlike in SR2, where the forges need to be prepared before the Reaver can be imbued (through, of course, the completion of puzzles), these work just the opposite: the Reaver is imbued first thing, then its new properties must be employed to escape.

In this case, we just need to use it on these glowing orbs, of which there are only two. This turns them dark, and the portal out activates, granting us passage back.

We emerge back in the chamber we left from.

Here, however, blocking the exit, we find these familiar gargoyles.

Using the bloodstone to charge the Reaver, we're now able to escape. Raziel expends the Dark Reaver's charge...

...and is granted temporary invisibility. He can now walk past them undetected.

Moving on, we come to a door that the Dark Reaver can open - though this is not, yet, the Light Forge.

Raziel:
"Against all odds, I had stumbled into Kain's own mausoleum. This seemed an unlikely coincidence..."

We collect Kain's family crest, lying against Kain's broken coffin (he did climb out of it, after all!) We're able to use this to open the door out. On the way...

...we gain Raziel's second combat ability. This one is executed in the air, much like Kain's second, but allows Raziel to spin the Reaver in a helecoptor motion and hit anything around him. This would be decidedly more useful if it didn't require you to be in the air to use, as there's rarely situations when we can hit more then one target with it, but still nice nonetheless for the same reasons as Kain's.

Beyond Kain's mausoleum, we find the Light Forge, which we can now open.

Much as before...

Raziel:
"Again I experienced that odd sense of displacement, as I was transported to the Vampire ruin once more... But this chamber was different than the first."

...we emerge into a mural-filled room.

Raziel:
"In their defeat, the Vampires’ enemy retaliated with a terrible curse – afflicting the Vampires with a bloodthirst that turned their once-noble race into ravenous predators."

Raziel:
"This curse plunged the Vampires into despair, and apparently drove many to madness and self-annihilation. What was it that so devastated them that they were driven to suicide?"

Maybe the terrible curse you just described not 2 seconds prior to this statement?

Once again, we find the Spirit Forge prepared for us.

Raziel:
"I had succeeded - the Reaver was forged with the power of Light."

Raziel:
"And now my way was clear: I would seek out Ariel at the Pillars and see if she could enlighten me."

Raziel always gives the Reaver a few test swings after imbuing it - I always liked that, for some reason. Like he's all excited and wants to try out his new toy.

Blocking our exit this time, we find this starnge statue, which promptly animates and attacks.

This odd-looking image actually depicts the statue blasting Raziel across the room.

These are actually rather difficult, at first - and gives Raziel a good beating before he manages to destroy it.

After a lengthy fight, the statue explodes, and we're granted passage.

Outside again at least...

Raziel:
"I had the means now to depart the cemetery. I only needed to find the gate that would send me on my way."

The exit is only a short distance away.

Raziel:
"At last, the gate yielded to the powers of Light and Darkness, with which the Reaver had been forged. The way to the Pillars was open."

Next time: Kain, too, arrives at the Pillars - 500 years prior.


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