Raziel:
Utter desolation. My once-proud kin, wiped from this world like excrement from a boot.
I knew the hand that wrought this deed...
Exploring the western ruins of his clan territory, he spies a band of creatures that he has not yet encountered. He watches from a safe perch. They murder a human villager, and perch over their fresh kill, gnawing on it.
Raziel:
I didn't recognize these flayed wracks of flesh. Their scent was vampiric, but they gnawed upon their victim's carcass like dogs.
Elder God:
Beyond the ruins of your former stronghold, and above the gardens of the dead, your brother Melchiah waits...
Seeing the ransacked graves and crypts, Raziel realizes that the Melchahim have robbed the graves of the Necropolis to recruit new vampires.
After encountering the decayed, ghoulish Melchahim, and after having recognized Melchiah's clan symbols scrawled throughout the Necropolis, Raziel realizes that these zombie-like creatures are actually the children of his former brother, Melchiah.
Raziel:
This charnel house bore the unmistakable marks of Melchiah's clan. To what depths had our dynasty plummeted, if these ghouls were the descendants of my high-born brother? Were they so debased as to recruit fledglings from the desiccated corpses here interred?
Raziel comes upon an engraving of Melchiah in his near-human form. This is a towering, heroic monument - contrasted with the scuttling, devolved Melchahim just beyond the next gate.
Raziel:
My brother, Melchiah, was made last, and therefore received the poorest portion of Kain's gift. Although immortal, his soul could not sustain the flesh, which retained much of its previous human frailty. This weakness, it seemed, was passed on to his offspring. Their fragile skins barely contained the underlying decay.
After making his way down the crypt, Raziel finds the inner chamber, where he sees a large figure lurking in the shadows.
Raziel:
Show yourself, creature!
Melchiah:
Do you not recognize me, brother? Am I so changed?
Raziel:
Melchiah?
Melchiah:
Yesss, brother.
You should have stayed where the master sent you, Raziel. You will find Nosgoth less pleasant than you remember.
Raziel:
What has become of my clan? Answer me, little brother, or I will beat an answer from your horrid lips.
Melchiah:
Everyone is afraid, sibling. You awake to a world of fear. These times of change are so... unsettling.
Do you think I feel no revulsion for this form? Do you believe for a moment that our Lord would risk his empire upon an upstart inheritance?
Raziel:
Enough riddles - what are you saying?!
Melchiah:
You are the last... to die...
As soon as Melchiah is trapped in the center cage, Raziel holds his hand on the switch, ready to pull it, and asks:
Raziel:
Tell me, Melchiah - where can I find Kain?
Melchiah:
The master is beyond your reach, Raziel.
He makes himself known when He sees fit - not when commanded.
Raziel pulls the switch:
Melchiah:
(Dies in agony...)
I am released...
The impact of devouring Melchiah's soul knocks Raziel to his knees. He's exhausted; sparks of energy flicker over his body.
Elder God:
You have done well, Raziel.
Raziel:
Am I reduced to this? A ghoul? A fratricide?
Elder God:
Elevated, Raziel, not reduced. Consuming Melchiah's soul has endowed you with a new gift.
Elder God:
Return to the Sanctuary of the Clans, Raziel. Melchiah?s soul has endowed you with the means to gain entry.
Beware, however - this hollow derelict is abandoned, but not uninhabited...
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