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"This edifice, marked with the elemental Light symbol, was clearly much older than the ruins in the rest of the cemetery. 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. Clearly I had more to accomplish before I could discover what lay within."
Raziel[src]

The Cemetery was a playable location in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Legacy of Kain: Defiance. An expansive graveyard area, it was located in southwestern Nosgoth to the west of Ziegsturhl. Kain's Mausoleum was one of the most notable structures inside the Cemetery and a number of notable artifacts, spells and objects could be found nearby including he Sanctuary spell, Ornamental Shield, Kain's Family Crest and the Faceted Orb, as well as a number of Secrets.

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"I awoke to the pain of a new existence, in a dank womb of darkness and decay."
―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]

In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, when Kain was resurrected by Mortanius in "Seeking Revenge", he awoke as a Vampire in his tomb, deep inside his Mausoleum. Making his way out of the structure and gaining his first spells and artifacts along the way, Kain found himself in the wider Cemetery. Emerging from his Mausoleum, he discovered that the sunlight was now uncomfortable to him and as it began to rain he found that water was even more painful.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/2]

BO1-Kain's Mausoleum Entrance

Kain's leaves his mausoleum and enters the Cemetery in Blood Omen

Sheltering from the rain, Kain explored the Cemetery's other mausoleums and found his first Flay artifacts. Shortly after his exit from the Cemetery, Kain was able to find the brigands that committed his murder. Kain took revenge, killing them all, but as he finished the deed he was warned by Mortanius that the brigands were pawns of a greater master. Mortanius directed Kain to the The Pillars and Kain left on the trail to Ziegsturhl. After this Kain was able to return regularly to his mausoleum within the cemetery through the use of the sanctuary spell and was able to discover several secrets in the immediate area.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/2]

Raziel was also to find himself in the Cemetery in Legacy of Kain: Defiance after emerging from The Elder's Lair in Escape from the Elder God Chamber. Initially trapped in the Spectral Realm he was denied a chance to enter the Material Realm when The Elder God removed the Planar portals and soon after discovered the Elder's soul devouring agents - the Archons. Seeking a way to enter the Material Realm, Raziel explored the cemetery's mausoleums in Find the Path to the Pillars and found a new method to enter it through 'possessing corpses'.[Defiance][Defiance/2][Defiance/4]

Def-Cemetary-External-ILemay

Raziel looks over the Cemetery in Defiance

Discovering Vampire hunters inhabiting the Cemetery and overhearing them talking about a spirit haunting the Pillars, Raziel realized that he had apparently been trapped in the Elder's Lair for five centuries and was now in the events of Blood Omen. Along with the mercenaries, Raziel discovered that several other enemies - the Revenants - were also crossing realms by spirit projection and possession, apparently just to follow him.[Defiance][Defiance/4]

Further inside the Cemetery Raziel was able to find several ruins much older than the rest of the Cemetery and was able to gain entry to the warp gates to the Dark Forge within the Vampire Citadel. Gaining the Dark Reaver from this forge, he was able to enter Kain's Mausoleum and passing through it, reached the ruins that were able to teleport him to the Light Forge and enable him to gain the Light Reaver . Utilizing both Wraith-blade enhancements, Raziel was able to open an ancient gate, behind which was a trail that led directly to the Pillars.[Defiance][Defiance/4]

Design and Layout[]

As with other reappearing locations, the Cemetery in Defiance is drastically altered from its Blood Omen appearance and very little directly matches the layout seen previously, although some buildings appear in similar places. Because of this only the main outdoor cemetery area and Kain's Mausoleum can be directly considered to reappear, with behind the scenes source suggesting that Defiance represented an 'updated' view of the Cemetery. [Blood Omen][Defiance][1][2] Nevertheless, several distinct buildings and areas of the Cemetery can be identified:

Notable Areas[]

Main Cemetery[]

The main external area of the Cemetery seen in both Blood Omen and Defiance, although drastically altered between titles.

In Blood Omen the main cemetery area comprised of a number of fenced areas containing five mausoleum buildings surrounded by a heavily wooded area and a stream running diagonally in the southeast - each mausoleum except Kain's mausoleum in the north was linked to another underground, giving a total of three mausoleum complexes. In the center was the 'graveyard' area contained a number of graves with Vista points and completely surrounded by railings, with other partitions spreading off from this: A partition in the northwest surrounding the entrance to the 'first crypt' with a trail leading north through an open gate to Kain's Mausoleum; a partition to the east contained the main gate to the Cemetery with a trail leading north to Ziegsturhl or bending around to a partition containing the exit of the 'first crypt'; to the southwest was another graveyard area and beyond that another fenced off area containing the entrance to the secret mausoleums; to the southeast beyond the stream was the exit of the secret mausoleums into a heavily wooded area with a number of Zombies and Pentaliche of tarot artifacts.[Blood Omen][1][Blood Omen strategy guide]

For Defiance the area returned as the main external hub of the Cemetery, this time centered around a large two-tiered circular ruin among a central graveyard with a number of other ruins, buildings and passage spreading out from there. A circular 'amphitheater' style area in the northwest led upto a sealed door and a passage heading through to another similar area outside the entrance to Kain's Mausoleum. An open-topped apparently partially collapsed building in the south led through into the 'Sunken Tomb' building, while a trail around the other side of the ruin from the 'amphitheater' led north through a series of passages and ruins to the main Cemetery gate. High doorways in the east and west led to the Light and Dark forge ruins respectively, with the top tier of the central structure acting and something of a bridge to cross the top level.[Defiance][1][Defiance strategy guide]

Kain's Mausoleum[]

Main article: Kain's Mausoleum

Arguably the most important structure in the Cemetery, Kain's Mausoleum appeared in both Blood Omen and Defiance and was positioned in the northwest of the Cemetery in both titles. Kain's tomb, the Sanctuary spell and Kain's Family Crest could be found within. Featured a different 'updated' layout in Defance although arguably somewhat reminiscent of the original layout. In Blood Omen linked only the the 'Main Cemetery', but gained a link to the 'Light forge ruins' through a sealed door and high ledge in Defiance[Blood Omen][Defiance][Blood Omen strategy guide][Defiance strategy guide][1]

 

First Crypt[]

Referred to only as the "first crypt" or "next crypt", this is the a mausoleum Kain passes through after leaving his mausoleum on the way to exit the Cemetery in Blood Omen. Linked the central eastern and central western mausoleums in the 'main Cemetery' through an underground 'dungeon'-like area. Houses a secret room containing a guide to Blood script.[3][4][Blood Omen][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

 

Secret Mausoleums[]

Two secret mausoleums found in Blood Omen in the south of the Cemetery linked by Teleporters. The first mausoleum in the south west could be reached only after gaining Wolf Form or Mist Form and allowed Kain to teleport to the southeastern crypt below a river in a heavily forested area, to find three Pentaliche of tarot artifacts and several Zombies.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen strategy guide][1]

 

Sunken Tomb[]

Appearing in Defiance, this mausoleum complex was positioned in the south of that area, leading to a tomb that was largely flooded and contained a link to the underworld through which Raziel escaped the Elder God, as well as a link to the 'Light forge ruins' on its far side. Also contained the only planar portal seen in Defiance as well as a secret orb activated doorway. The Ornamental Shield could be found within.[Defiance][Defiance strategy guide][1]

 

Dark Forge Ruins[]

Main article: Dark Forge (Defiance)

A set of ruins in the east of the Cemetery accessible only from a high passage marked with the Darkness symbol in the main cemetery area. Housed a megalith structure in the shape of the Darkness symbol and a portal room only accessible to the bearer of the Wraith Blade which led via a warp gate to the Dark Forge within the Vampire Citadel.[Defiance][Defiance strategy guide][1]

 

Light Forge Ruins[]

A set of ruins in the west of the Cemetery accessible from a high passage marked with the Light symbol in the main cemetery area, a low passage through the sunken tomb, or a high passage from Kain's Mausoleum. Housed a megalith structure in the shape of the Light symbol and a portal room only accessible to the bearer of the Wraith Blade which led via a warp gate to the Light Forge within the Vampire Citadel.[Defiance][Defiance strategy guide][1]

 

The Gate[]

The main gate leading north (or northeast) to Ziegsturhl and the Pillars of Nosgoth. Debatable whether the same gate is seen in both Blood Omen and Defiance, although both are seen in a similar area of the Cemetery. Gains a much more complex appearance and a new orb activated mechanism in Defiance.[Blood Omen][Defiance][Blood Omen strategy guide][Defiance strategy guide][1]

 

Behind the scenes[]

 

The Cemetery is known to have changed significantly in the development of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain with the layout of the area appearing much different in the Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain alpha.

The Cemetery in the alpha features a sixth, central mausoleum in place of the central graveyard, and three discrete crypts, which were modified and combined into the extended crypt connecting the center-west and center-east mausoleums in time for the beta. Each crypt houses switches which unlock gates in the outer graveyard, and is bookended by turnstiles designed to prevent Kain from backtracking after unlocking the next gate, which are only encountered at the Lightning Dungeon in subsequent builds.[5] The secret guide to Nosgoth's blood script is not present in the alpha, with the entrance to the respective room positioned elsewhere and freely accessible. The heavy boulders involved in the puzzle to unlock the final room are already in place, but no floor switches are hidden below them.

Notes[]

"The world had changed to my eyes. I had not expected such cruelty from the light. For in the embrace of the sun, I could find no comfort, only malice. This would change in time for the worse, along with other things."
―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]
Defiance-Prima-Concept-Cemetery

The Defiance Prima guide concept art

  • In Blood Omen files the map area containing the main external Cemetery is grouped with other 'overland' areas under the "Map 0001" designation, where it is labelled as "Map 0001 Sect 70". The other internal areas have their own designations with "Map 0006 Sect 11" (the only area in the "Map 0006" designation) referring to Kain's Mausoleum, the "Map 0013" designation referring to the 'first crypt' (specifically "Sect 01" to "Sect 05" - with "Sect 04" referring to a secret area within the crypt), and "Map 0051 Sect 11" and "Map 0051 Sect 12" referring to the secret mausoleums in the south of the Cemetery (with the "Map 0051" designation covering a number of secret locations). Several of the Developers' level select entries would lead to Cemetery areas, with the initial "OL1" chapter subsection containing entries for "MAUS" (Kain's Mausoleum), "CRT" (the 'first crypt') and "OL" (the initial 'overland' Cemetery area); in addition the top-level entries "BREN" and the unmarked yellow doorway would return Kain to the main cemetery and his mausoleum respectively.[Blood Omen][10]
  • In Defiance files and Debug menus, the individual units of the Cemetery are listed under the "Cemetery" heading with as "Cemetery 1A" to "Cemetery 18A". They are numbered thus: with "1A" - the sunken tomb where Raziel escapes the underworld, "2A" - the sunken tomb entrance area with the planar portal, "3A" - the main cemetery area, "4A" - the entrance area to Kain's Mausoleum, "5A" - The spectral pillar platform chamber beneath the sunken tomb, "6A" - The Light forge ruins, "7A" - the Dark forge ruins, "8A" - the Dark forge portal room, "9A" - Kain's tomb and the bust room inside Kain's Mausoleum, "10A" - the main area of Kain's Mausoleum, "11A" - the Light forge portal room, "12A" - the lower (tomb) passage to the Light forge ruins, "13A" - the hallway and platformed room following the sunken tomb entrance area, "14A" - the upper passage to the Light forge ruins, "15A" - the passage to the Dark forge ruins, "16A" - the passage to Kain's Mausoleum, "17A" - the passage to the cemetery gate and "18A" - the cemetery gate area. None of these areas will load from the retail versions of the debug menu, but they will load in beta versions.[Defiance][9] In addition the official Defiance script makes reference to some of these room codes, noting "Cem 02" and "Cem 03" (which match "Cemetery 2A" and "3A") as places Raziel visits in Escape from the Elder God Chamber. It also makes reference to "Cem 05" as the place Raziel notes the high passage he cannot reach in the Spectral Realm, which takes place in a side part of "Cemetery 1A" in retail game - it's possible that either that the dialogue was moved or the room order was shifted during development.[Defiance]
  • Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Prima's Official Strategy Guide gives the room names as "Main Cemetery" (3A/17A/18A), "To Kain's Mausoleum" (16A), "Kain's Mausoleum Entrance" (4A), "Tomb Entrance/Hallway" (2A/13A, named "Tomb Entrance Connector" in Chapter 2), "Sunken Tomb" (1A), "Spectral Vault" (5A), "Spectral Vault Cont." (12A), "Light Forge Entrance Chamber" (6A), "Upper Cemetery Passage"(14A), "Upper Main Cemetery" (3A), "Dark Forge Chamber Passage"(15A), "Dark Forge Entrance Chamber"(7A), "Dark Forge Portal Room" (8A), "Kain's Mausoleum" (10A/9A) and "Light Forge Portal Room"(11A). There is also a section called "Backtracking" covering returning through the Cemetery to collect items in Kain's Mausoleum and the Tomb hallway before travelling to the Cemetery gate.[Defiance strategy guide]
  • As with many revisited locations in the series, the cemetery becomes a much more ornate and complex location in its Defiance appearance than it was in Blood Omen, ultimately this may be due to artistic interpretation and an 'updating' of the area, with artist Daniel Cabuco, comparing the Blood Omen interpretation of areas to a "TV version" and the Defiance updates as a "movie version". [Blood Omen][Defiance][2] While the Cemetery has a generally gothic look in Blood Omen, the Cemetery in Defiance was influenced by Spanish gravesites.[Blood Omen][Defiance][11]
  • In both Blood Omen and Defiance the Cemetery contains a number of hidden messages in the Futhark Blood script runes. In Blood Omen the original cipher for the runes can be found in a secret chamber within the first crypt and the vista point graves in the cemetery read the names of Silicon Knights and Crystal Dynamics employees, specifically mentioning Mark Wallace, Joshua Marks, Lyle Hall, Rodney Rapp, Josh Rose, Scott Collie, Mike Tweedle, Ross Cutler, Jason Epps, Jack Meier, Tony Barnes, Madeline Canepa, Randy Komisar and Ben Szymkowiak - and giving dates between 1994 and 1996. Defiance features less overt references with only occasional messages such as "rest in peace" in the (Sunken) Tomb Entrance area and "here lies Kain" directly above Kain's tomb.[Blood Omen][Defiance].[12]

Gallery[]

Tileset[]


Maps[]

Blood Omen[]

Retail[]
Alpha[]
 

Defiance[]

 

Interactive Maps[]

Videos[]

 	Ziegsturhl_&_The_Cemetery_-_Blood_Omen_Alpha 	 			  

See also[]

References[]

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 SEF The Revived and Updated (Almost) Definitive LoK Maps Thread at the Square Enix Legacy of Kain Series Forums (by Baziel, Guilherme Coelho and Tenaya).
  2. 2.0 2.1 Icon DCabDesign Pillars of Nosgoth areas at DCabDesign (by Bazielim), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco)
  3. Icon Dark Chronicle Legacy of Kain Secrets: Page 8 of 9 at SK: The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain (archived at Dark Chronicle)
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Icon Dark Chronicle The Plot at SK: The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain (archived at Dark Chronicle) Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "SK-BO1FAQ-Plot" defined multiple times with different content
  5. Icon The Lost Worlds Additional Crypt Dungeons at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln)
  6. Icon Nosgothic Realm Blood Omen Dialgoue Script-Page 1 at Nosgothic Realm (by Tenaya)
  7. Icon Nosgothic Realm Defiance Dialgoue Script-The Cemetery at Nosgothic Realm (by Tenaya)
  8. Icon Dark Chronicle Defiance Dialgoue Script-The Cemetery at Dark Chronicle (by Ardeth Silvereni)
  9. 9.0 9.1 Icon The Lost Worlds Defiance - The Debug Menu at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln).
  10. Icon The Lost Worlds Blood Omen Developers Level Select Page at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln).
  11. Icon DCabDesign Nosgoth architecture at DCabDesign (by Lexy), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco)
  12. Icon Dark Chronicle Blood Omen: Nosgoth's Blood Script at Dark Chronicle (by Ardeth Silvereni)
  13. Icon Dark Chronicle Strategies to Aquiring Each Spell at SK: The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain (archived at Dark Chronicle)

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