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"This was once the most academic of cities, housing some of the most prestigious universities in all of Nosgoth. While I would not weep over lost tomes, I detested the sight of scars left upon the world at the hands of the Nemesis."
―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]
BO1-Map0001-Sect38-Stahlberg

Stahlberg was a human settlement that was visited by Kain in the course of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Stahlberg was South of the Land of the Nemesis and NorthEast of Avernus. Kain passed through the settlement on his way to the House of the Dollmaker as he searched for a way to reach Elzevir in the chapter "Ottmar's Daughter" and he revisited the town in the Pre-Blood Omen era in the chapter "Stranded in Time" and in the present of the Second timeline in the chapter "The Vampire Purges".

Profile[]

Stahlberg was a settlement encountered by Kain in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It was located in North-Eastern Nosgoth, and was just South of the Land of the Nemesis and Southeast of the Lake of Lost Souls. It was once the home of Nosgoth's most prestigious Universities.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen strategy guide][1][2][3]

When Kain left Willendorf in the chapter "Ottmar's Daughter", he travelled through a secret tunnel and arrived in a modest battlement south of Stahlberg. Travelling north through the town searching for Elzevir the Dollmaker, he found that the town had been largely destroyed by the Legions of the Nemesis with houses left largely in ruins, debris strewn throughout the town and it's citizens massacred, with the troops of the Legions of the Nemesis in control. North of the town he found an enormous colossal statue of The Nemesis marking the border of the Land of the Nemesis and just beyond it an army was massing.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9]

After Kain returned the soul of the Princess of Willendorf, he participated in the Battle of the Last Stand nearby Stahlberg at the Plains of Blood, and was catapulted into the Pre-Blood Omen era by his possession of a time streaming device. In this period in the chapter "Stranded in Time" he found Stahlberg to be pristine and untouched, with citizens going about their business, with no trace of the devastation seen in the future. To the north of the city the colossus was yet to be built and he found a settlement that had apparently been completely demolished to prepare for the advance of the Nemesis in the future.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/10]

After Kain changed history and eliminated the Nemesis, he returned south in this new timeline in the chapter "The Vampire Purges". He found the colossus toppled and the northern settlement untouched. Passing through Stahlberg again, he found the city was pristine, restored to its former glory. However Stahlberg provided Kain with his first hints that something was wrong as Kain was assailed by new vampire hunters. To the South of Stahlberg he heard cheers and detected the scent of blood and discovered that the battlement south of stahlberg had been greatly expanded to serve as an execution ground for the new vampire hunters. Here Kain discovered that Moebius had exploited his murder of William to galvanise support to create a new faction of vampire hunters that had successfully eliminated vampire populations in the interim. Kain arrived just in time to witness the final execution - that of Vorador - leaving Kain as the last vampire in Nosgoth. Kain fought of Moebius's troops and Moebius himself before beheading the timestreamer, but Kain's actions has irrecoverably changed history. [Blood Omen][Blood Omen/11]

"As I wandered about more, the shrieking and cheering became more apparent and defined. There was some sort of gathering to the south; for with each cheer I smelled an outpour of blood."
―Kain — Listen (file info)[src]

Design and Layout[]

In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Stahlberg was a walled township in a snowy location hemmed in by cliffs and a fortified wooden fence. The town broadly presented a roughly square shaped area populated with timber framed and tiled roofed houses. Sixteen houses were found in the township, with most arranged in rough 'streets' of muddy trails through the snow. This could be seen as not literal, and instead symbolic of a larger town, as Uschtenheim - with eight buildings in the same game - becomes significantly more elaborate in its Soul Reaver 2 portrayal. Only a few were accessible in each period and the open houses changed between periods.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11][Blood Omen/7][Soul Reaver 2/5]

To the South of Stahlberg was a battlement which protected the end of the Willendorf Tunnel and to the north was a large colossal statue which marked the border with the Land of the Nemesis and the passage to the Lake of Lost Souls/Dollmaker's house. Several aspects of both of these map tiles were changed between time periods.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]

Businesses and Landmarks[]

Notable Timeline Changes[]

Stahlberg was one of the few areas in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain that could be seen in multiple eras or timelines: it could be seen in the 'present' of the Blood Omen era of the First timeline, the 'past' of the Pre-Blood Omen era and the 'new present' in the Second timeline. As such it was subject to several changes due to timeline and era.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]

  • The 'Present' rampart south of Stahlberg is relatively modest - a rectangle of walls with one off shoot section and a single tower linking to an underground section. The 'Past' version is even more modest - lacking the offshoot and tower, although it does have a wider portcullis and gateway in place of the tower and underground section. The 'New Present' version is far more elaborate - a vast structure with multiple enclosures that appears to act as something of a base and execution ground for the Vampire hunters - it serves as the battleground for Moebius's boss encounter.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]
  • The Rampart area is covered with snow in the 'Present' era. In the 'Past' and 'New Present' snow is confined to cliff surrounding the area.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]
  • The bat beacon in the rampart area is only found in the 'Present' era.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9]
  • The 'Present' Stahlberg area is covered in debris and piles of rubble which prevent easy access through the town and force Kain to take a superfluous rote to progress. Buildings are ruined or damaged and the area is covered in blood and gore, with bodies of villagers strung up or impaled throughout. troops of the Legions of the Nemesis are the main enemies. In contrast, the 'Past' Stahlberg' and the 'New Present' Stahlberg are pristine and populated with villagers. The 'New Present' features an increasing presence of Vampire hunter enemies.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]
  • Different houses can be entered in each period:
    • The house in the center of the eastern section can only be entered in the present era.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9]
    • The houses in the north west, north east and south west corners can only be entered in the past.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/10]
    • The far eastern house, the house in the south of the eastern section and the house just north of the center of town can only be entered in the new present.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/11]
    • The house just above the trail on the western side can be entered in both the past and new present eras. Both are the same and feature a Save altar.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]
    • The house in the southeast corner can be visited in the present and past eras. Its interior changes: it consists of two linked rooms in the present but a single room with a different tileset in the past.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10]
    • The house just south of the center of town can be visited in all three eras. While appearing similar in the 'Past' and 'New Present' eras, furniture is changed as is the wall fixtures -and a window seems to be removed with the passage of time. The original present displays a wider room with a different tileset - and two windows.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]
    • The large house in the center of the north of town is accessible in the present and new present eras. It has three linked rooms and appears to house a bar - complete with a pile of barrels - and a bedroom in the original present. The new present has only a single room - which has a pile of barrels - as well as a previously unseen bookcase and several new windows.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/11]
  • Strangely, the 'Present' and 'New Present' Stahlberg tiles feature an additional rocky outcrop in the cliffs that is not present in the 'Past' era.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]
  • North of Stahlberg a colossal statue marked the border of the Land of the Nemesis. It was complete in the 'Present', in the process of being built in the 'Past' and was toppled in the 'New Present'. Similarly beyond the statue in the 'Present was a mass of tents - apparently representing the Legions of the Nemesis preparing for war - but the 'Past' and 'New Present' eras revealed a settlement had previously stood there. The settlement also gains vampire hunter enemies in the 'New Present' era.[Blood Omen][Blood Omen/9][Blood Omen/10][Blood Omen/11]

Behind the scenes[]

The alpha versions of Stahlberg have differences from the retail version:

  • The southern rampart map tile lacks the snow and the northern cliff seen in the retail version.[4][5]
  • The southern rampart does not link to the Willendorf tunnel but instead to the Developers' level select.[4][5]
  • Additional Wolf enemies appear around the southern rampart in the alpha which are not present in retail.[4][5]
  • Two of the Stahlberg 'Present' interiors have their themes changed, with walls and floors changing style.[4][5]
  • Two Stahlberg 'Present' interiors have sections where dead soldiers of the Legions of the Nemesis can be found on exposed bare earth - potentially suggesting some kind of resistance network present in the town.[4][5]
  • Upon reaching the past rampart in the retail, Kain emerges in a 'false' area which triggers the 'Nuremberg' cutscene before sending him to an almost identical area to continue on. No such tricks are present in the alpha and there is only one version of the rampart map tile.[4][5]
  • The 'Past' and 'New Present' versions of Stahlberg have no open doors and no interiors.[4][5]
  • The 'New Present' Stahlberg in inhabited by the class that will serve as Moebius's champion in the retail game. In retail the class is a unique enemy of the vampire hunters seen only in Moebius's boss battle. In the alpha however, the class appears to be treated as a regular enemy and several appear around Stahlberg.[4][5]
  • While both the retail and the alpha use copies of the 'New Present' rampart for Moebius's boss battle, the alpha uses fewer copies and simplifies unused areas much faster.[4][5]

Notes[]

Kain's remarks about Stahlberg noted that the city was a seat of learning - a base of academia housing Nosgoth's "most prestigious universities", but no further information is made regarding this detail and there is little evidence of this in the city - indeed the biggest library in Nosgoth seems to be based in Willendorf.

Gallery[]

Maps[]

Retail[]

Present[]
Past[]
New Present[]

Moebius Boss Battle[]

Alpha[]

Present[]
Past[]
New Present[]

Moebius Boss Battle[]

Interactive Maps[]


Videos[]

 	Stahlberg,_Dollmaker_and_the_Nemesis_-_Blood_Omen_Alpha 	 			    	Onto_the_past_-_Time_Travel_-_Blood_Omen_Alpha 	 			    	Back_to_the_Future_-_Blood_Omen_Alpha 	 			  

See also[]

References[]

Browse[]

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