[ Legacy of Kain: The Lost Worlds ]

The Turelim Clan Territory

article by Ben Lincoln

 

Turel's territory would have been Raziel's next destination after The Undercity and The Temple. Consisting of volcanic and other underground terrain, it was one of the two largest areas deleted from Soul Reaver. Its entrance was to the east of Dumah's "Ash Village", where the Oracle's Cave is located in the final version of the game. In earlier revisions of the world layout, the Oracle's Cave is attached to the north of Dumah's territory instead. Part of the area would have been an enormous smokestack and furnace designed to "belch smoke into the sky, shielding the land from the poisonous effects of the sun", according to the manual for the game.

Versions of Soul Reaver from January and February 1999 include Turel's territory in various stages of completion. By the time of the 1999-02-16 build, it was nearly complete, with only Turel himself, a few doorway connections, and some of the puzzle logic missing.

The first chamber of Turel's territory contained a massive orrery-like mechanism. This mechanism would have been activated using three constrictable pillars located in rooms with windows looking into the orrery chamber. Reaching these pillars would have required Raziel to proceed up into the smokestack, which is the central core for all of Turel's area, and linked to a complex series of passages. The video at the bottom of this page may be helpful for understanding the level layout.

Raziel could have activated the first pillar after fighting a few Turelim vampires, but would have encountered Turel himself midway through reaching the second pillar. Each pillar has a corresponding switch on one of the smokestack's fan blades. After activating all three switches and all three pillars, the orrery itself could be constricted, and the fan blades would have begun spinning. This updraft would have allowed Raziel to reach The Mountain Retreat.

The Turelim Clan Territory is found in more pre-release screenshots of the game than any of the other deleted areas, and video footage is present in The KainDemo Video and Video Demo - 1999-03-16. One of its more striking aspects is its prevalent rivers of lava. There are two types, at least one of which would have been deadly to Raziel, creating an additional challenge despite his earned ability to swim in water.

The lava's deadly effects are not implemented in any of the known prototype versions of Soul Reaver.

The smokestack makes a cameo appearance in the opening FMV, to the left of the Silenced Cathedral. This matches up exactly with the locations of those two areas in prototype versions of the game which include both - Turel's territory is in the northeast section of the world map, and the Cathedral is in the southeast.

03-Blender

Turel's Territory was (like The Undercity and The Temple) a victim of insufficient time and resources to finish it before the release deadline.

Screenshots From the 1999-03-16 Demo Video
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See Video Demo - 1999-03-16 for more information.

 
Blender Toolchain Rendered Images
[ Turel's territory in the 1999-02-16 prototype ]
Turel's territory in the 1999-02-16 prototype
[ Rendered version of the Lake of the Dead ]
Rendered version of the Lake of the Dead
     

When the world map from the 1999-02-16 prototype is rendered in Blender, Turel's smokestack and the Silenced Cathedral match their locations in the opening cinematic.

 
 
[ Turel's smokestack in the opening FMV ]
Turel's smokestack in the opening FMV
[ The smokestack in Turel's area ]
The smokestack in Turel's area
[ The smokestack in Turel's area ]
The smokestack in Turel's area
[ The smokestack in Turel's area ]
The smokestack in Turel's area
[ The Turelim Clan Territory ]
The Turelim Clan Territory
[ From the KainDemo video ]
From the KainDemo video
[ From the KainDemo video ]
From the KainDemo video
[ From the KainDemo video ]
From the KainDemo video
[ From the KainDemo video ]
From the KainDemo video
[ From the KainDemo video ]
From the KainDemo video
[ From the KainDemo video ]
From the KainDemo video
[ The Turelim Clan Territory ]
The Turelim Clan Territory
[ The Turelim Clan Territory ]
The Turelim Clan Territory
[ From the box for the UK release of the game ]
From the box for the UK release of the game
[ From the box for the UK release of the game ]
From the box for the UK release of the game
[ From a printed advertisement ]
From a printed advertisement
[ From a printed advertisement ]
From a printed advertisement
[ From a printed advertisement ]
From a printed advertisement
[ From a printed advertisement ]
From a printed advertisement
 
 
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