CyberFish
07-26-2002, 02:34 PM
As well as being the most atmospheric level in the game (IMO), the eternal prison raises a lot of interesting questions.
Firstly, what exactly are the prison guardians? Are they living creatures, demons, or ghosts? They have the same glowing green eyes and arcane magic as the Hylden. And they seem to be as insane as the creatures they keep imprisoned. And just what is their Great Experiment?
Secondly, what's with all the clock-like devices in the Prison? My guess is that they distort time, allowing the creatures in the prison to, in essence, live forever, albeit in constant torment. When Kain broke the device, the prison was no longer eternal, and the wretched inhabitants would at last find the merciful release of death.
Next, part of the Prison seems to occupy a different dimension altogether, and subscribe to a different set of laws of physics. Why?
One of the most fascinating enigmas arises from the Builder. The Sarafan Lord claims that the Hylden changed from thier former appearence (the murals and wall carvings in the Hylden City) due to their imprisonment in the demon dimension. And yet, the builder also changed, despite never having been in the demon dimension.
Also, how come the Builder is in the Prison at all? Presumably, work on the Device continued right up until the defeat of the Hylden, when it abruptly ceased due to the banishment. The Builder must have been imprisoned before then, or he would have been banished to the demon dimension with the rest of his race. How is it that he was imprisoned before the completion of the Device? If an outside agency intervened to mete out justice, why did they not also destroy the Device, if they thought it so evil?
And another thing. Why the huge statue of Moebius? Did he travel back in time in order to create the Prison, and thus the statue was in honour of him; or was the statue a later addition?
And another thing: Why is Magnus in the prison? His crime was, seemingly, wanting to overthrow the Sarafan Lord.
My theory is this: The Prison was created by the Hylden, as a place of eternal punishment for their vampire enemies. The Guardians are a sort of subspecies of Hylden, or maybe even undead Hylden. The Builder was not imprisoned for creating the Device, but for refusing to complete it. His conscience could not bear the act of annihilating an entire race. Moebius, as an enemy of the Vampires, aided the Prison Guardians in some way, possibly something to do with the time distortion devices, and so they honoured him with the statue. Magnus was imprisoned on the orders of the Sarafan Lord.
I can't explain why the Builder changed like the other Hylden. Possibly part of the Prison is built in a dimension very much like the demon dimension, or it may be due to his suffering in the Prison. Or, possibly, the Hylden would have changed even without being imprisoned.
Firstly, what exactly are the prison guardians? Are they living creatures, demons, or ghosts? They have the same glowing green eyes and arcane magic as the Hylden. And they seem to be as insane as the creatures they keep imprisoned. And just what is their Great Experiment?
Secondly, what's with all the clock-like devices in the Prison? My guess is that they distort time, allowing the creatures in the prison to, in essence, live forever, albeit in constant torment. When Kain broke the device, the prison was no longer eternal, and the wretched inhabitants would at last find the merciful release of death.
Next, part of the Prison seems to occupy a different dimension altogether, and subscribe to a different set of laws of physics. Why?
One of the most fascinating enigmas arises from the Builder. The Sarafan Lord claims that the Hylden changed from thier former appearence (the murals and wall carvings in the Hylden City) due to their imprisonment in the demon dimension. And yet, the builder also changed, despite never having been in the demon dimension.
Also, how come the Builder is in the Prison at all? Presumably, work on the Device continued right up until the defeat of the Hylden, when it abruptly ceased due to the banishment. The Builder must have been imprisoned before then, or he would have been banished to the demon dimension with the rest of his race. How is it that he was imprisoned before the completion of the Device? If an outside agency intervened to mete out justice, why did they not also destroy the Device, if they thought it so evil?
And another thing. Why the huge statue of Moebius? Did he travel back in time in order to create the Prison, and thus the statue was in honour of him; or was the statue a later addition?
And another thing: Why is Magnus in the prison? His crime was, seemingly, wanting to overthrow the Sarafan Lord.
My theory is this: The Prison was created by the Hylden, as a place of eternal punishment for their vampire enemies. The Guardians are a sort of subspecies of Hylden, or maybe even undead Hylden. The Builder was not imprisoned for creating the Device, but for refusing to complete it. His conscience could not bear the act of annihilating an entire race. Moebius, as an enemy of the Vampires, aided the Prison Guardians in some way, possibly something to do with the time distortion devices, and so they honoured him with the statue. Magnus was imprisoned on the orders of the Sarafan Lord.
I can't explain why the Builder changed like the other Hylden. Possibly part of the Prison is built in a dimension very much like the demon dimension, or it may be due to his suffering in the Prison. Or, possibly, the Hylden would have changed even without being imprisoned.