The destruction of the major human Kingdoms was inevitable. Within a hundred years, humanity had been thoroughly domesticated. There remained some feral humans scattered across the hinterlands, clinging to their hopeless holy war to rid Nosgoth of the vampire scourge. They were tolerated by Kains empire. They existence for the vampire fledglings more challenging.

The vampire lieutenants and Kain allowed the remains of the legions, the lesser vampires, to have their intrigues. They provided amusement and spice to an increasingly uninspired court. As faction fell against faction the lieutenants would bet on the outcome. They helped and foiled plans at their own whim. And they were the Council, and Lord Kain was their only master.

The think it is a poison of the blood that makes the vampires what they are. The blood they drink only feeds the bodies they live in. To create a vampire, one must steal a soul from the abyss to reanimate the corpse. It is the body that demands the blood sacrifice, vampire souls gain their advantage from the powers of the underworld. As vampires matured, their earthly bodies evolved into a higher form. The vampires assumed the powers and nobility of the Dark Gods. With each change, the trivial affairs of vampire and man held less interest to the Six Vampire Lieutenants and Kain. Always, it was Kain that would change first. After their master had experienced a new gift, one of his sons would follow in a decade or so. Until on one fateful time, where Raziel, Kains first born and favoured son, had the audacity to evolve before his master. Raziel was gifted with wings, and for his impertinence, Raziel was damned.

To vampires, the touch of water is agony; it burns their flesh like acid. Raziels punishment was to be cast into The Lake of the Dead, Kains execution ground for traitors and weaklings. As Raziels brethren heaved him into the air, he watched in confusion and horror at their bemused expressions on their faces. The transitory thrill of something new. Then came the pain. Melting, twisting, burning, falling. A new experience to any creature or person. Time. Raziel lost all concept of time or how long he fell. All he knew is that there was an end to the fall and through the pain, he heard a voice. At first he thought it was mere echoes of his own tortured mind, but he grew to understand that it was more. Something primal. Something angry. Something righteous. Something ancient.

The Elder explained much to Raziel. It spoke of creation, of death, of souls and of hunger. For eons the Elder fed upon the souls of Nosgoth. Then Kains vampire dynasty deprived the Elder of sustenance. For centuries his hunger grew and festered in that place at the bottom of the Abyss.

The Elder offered Raziel a solution to his sorry existence - if he stalked the Material Realm, slaying his former brethren, then Raziel would have the chance to avenge himself against Kain. Raziel could not decline such a generous offer.