Sanctuary of the Scion
The Sanctuary is the resting place of the final piece of the Atlantean Scion. Originally belonging to Jacqueline Natla in her position as one of the Atlantean Triumvirate, it was taken from her upon her imprisonment and placed in this temple area. Now Lara seeks it re-unite it with the other parts of the Scion that she has collected from Greece and Peru. The Sanctuary of the Scion is the twelfth level of Tomb Raider.
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Original Version
The level begins just inside the gate from the City of Khamoon. Lara must climb a flight of impressive ornamental steps to reach the main cavern of the Sanctuary.
Lara ends up on the back of a colossal stone sphinx. The main cavern of the Sanctuary has various ledges and platforms along it's sides. The main focus of this area is to open two doors at either sides, in which can be collected a pair of ankhs to be used as keys to open a door between the sphinx's paws.
Once the gate is opened Lara can drop through into a huge subterranean lake, much like the one in the Tomb of Tihocan. In the depths sit two statues of the Egyptian gods Horus and Anubis.These huge structures contain various passages and chambers where Lara can find levers open a new path. The path leads upwards to the steps where Lara started, and she can pick up a Scarab to be used as key to the area where the Scion is held. It is in a pillared hall, where Lara will do battle with Larson Conway before claiming her prize.
Anniversary Version
In Anniversary, the level begins very similarly - the only difference being that in order to get to the main cavern, Lara must operate a puzzle whereby she turns columns to match bas-relief images, and then negociate a trapped hallway.
Anniversary's version of the Sanctuary reveals much more human construction than in the original. While being located in a large natural cavern, the floors are made of laid stone slabs rather than sand, and columned peristyles are noticeable on the walls. Two entrances are seen on the left and the right, but Lara must use ledges at the far end of the hall to make her way there. The sphinx is also much larger than the original.
The two side corridors offer more traps of the sliding block variety, and there are almost identical side rooms at the end of them. The idea of these rooms is to lower a prism of crystal into a beam of sunlight, which will then create the outline of a pyramid as the light is shone through four other pyramidal crystals. These open the doors to collect the ankh keys.
The subterranean lake is approached by a long winding passage. Instead of finding a passage up to the area where the Scion is located, Lara must raise and lower the water levels so that she can use levers to gain access to a ledge above the statues of the two gods.
The pillared hall is much extended, and after accessing a gated area at one end, Lara claims her prize and exits the tomb. Larson appears at the end of this level in a cutscene.
Links
Notes
The final cutscene of this level allows us to guess at its location. A river runs below the caves to the sea. It cannot be the River Nile, as there are no floodplains, just sheer sandstone cliffs. It could either be located on the Red Sea coast or that of the Mediterranean - although the river is difficult to place as there are few rivers emptying into either sea from Egypt apart from the Nile. The land is also rather mountainous and craggy, which suggest a location near the Red Sea - but as usual, there is no clear evidence either way.
Enemies
- Mummified Atlanteans
- Atlantean Creatures (Tomb Raider only)
- Winged Atlanteans
- Atlantean Centaurs
- Rats (Anniversary only)
- Larson Conway (Killed in Tomb Raider, but was seen in a cutscene at the end of the level in Anniversary)
