The River of Death is a river that passes through the Dimension of Death.
Background[]
A foul stench arises from it. Its black waters corrodes all it touches. Only souls of the deceased may cross the river in the Boatman's incorporeal boat.
Some say this may be the famed River Styx (or perhaps a tributary), which also allows dead to travel through the Underworld of the Realm of the Dead and also passes through Hades.
Lucreto used the waters of the River of Death to corrupt the Sacred Well allowing him to create his evil Henchmen.
Behind the Scenes[]
The name River of Death originates from Christian tradition. In the John Bunyan's novels Pilgrim's Progress and its sequel Christiana's Story, the River of Death is the last obstacle before reaching the Celestial City of Heaven. In Roberta's notes and scribbles for ideas to use in the earliest version of the game (c. 1995/1996) the River of Death would have surrounded the Celestial City and it would have been the last obstical to reach where the Mask of Eternity would have been repaired. In the final game the Celestial City became the Realm of the Sun, which still likes in a celestial space.
The River of Death in Bunyan's work was in itself inspired by the idea of the River Styx from Greek Mythology.
According to the old MOE website, this river was named the River Styx even towards the end of development (so Roberta was working off both concepts), and up to the release (see programmer's notes in KQ8 development). Although this name was not mentioned in the final release probably to further dissociate the Dimension of Death from the Realm of the Dead. Interestingly, the reference to the River Styx remained on the website, and was never modified even after the game's release.
- Azriel, Lord of the Dead, once claimed eternal control over this realm. Now, with the evil curse infecting even this seemingly immune region, the "undead" have a stronghold on the dimension. Passing through this land in search for the key that unlocks the gates of the dead lands, Connor must fight off skeletons and zombies to avoid becoming a permanent resident! And in order to depart from this realm, Connor must find the only way to cross the famed River Styx.
In the file names, the textures are referred to as 'styx'.