There are not a lot of details about the lost вЂ“ or invisible вЂ“ city of Kitezh in the history books, but in short, the myth is based around an old Russian legend that dates back to the 13th century. Post-impressionist painter Konstantin Gorbatov's The Invisible Town of Kitezh (1913) But she alone is the one who connects the secret to immortality to the lost city of Kitezh.вЂќ There are echoes of this myth everywhere. Some of these myths are true across cultures. вЂњSheвЂ™s almost on the end of her rope at this point in the story. вЂњOne of the things I love about Lara is her determination, but at this point itвЂ™s grown into almost an obsession as she chases the secret to immortality across the globe looking for any clue that can validate what sheвЂ™s seen,вЂќ says franchise creative director Noah Hughes. Finding another immortality myth to chase after fits nicely with LaraвЂ™s larger meta-narrative. In fact, the best way for her to cope with her post-traumatic stress was to begin researching other immortality myths. Upon returning to civilian life, Lara couldnвЂ™t shake the memories of Yamatai. How would the gameвЂ™s core fable tie back into LaraвЂ™s experiences from the first game? In the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, Lara encountered something she never expected could be real: an immortal soul. When choosing the myth for Rise of the Tomb Raider, Crystal Dynamics had another factor to consider. вЂњWhen we did the research, we found a myth that would take us to the mountains of Siberia, and that just seemed like a really cool hostile place, which became a great foundation for our story and gave us a landscape that was new, and required a whole new set of technologies.вЂќ вЂњWe wanted to put Lara into a whole new location, someplace that still fulfilled the goals of survival, but had a whole new look than Yamatai,вЂќ says game director Brian Horton. If the team chooses a myth set inside the jungles of South America, it will require a completely different set of technical challenges. For example, using a myth set inside Russia will require the team to set the game in Russia, and this affects other aspects of the gameвЂ™s design, pushing the team to build technology to replicate mountains and snow. The studio looks at the location and culture surrounding each myth.

However, the studio has to look at more than just the myth itself they have to think critically about whatever item Lara will be chasing after. For Rise of the Tomb Raider, Lara will start a search for the secrets of immortality by tracking down an ancient city that sunk into a frozen Russian lake centuries ago.Д®arly on in the development process, Crystal Dynamics casts a wide net looking for different myths that havenвЂ™t been overused in other pieces of fiction. Even after the 2013 reboot, Crystal Dynamics still builds its fiction off a real historical legend. Tomb RaidersвЂ™ exploits always send Lara on wild adventures, but these adventures are always based on some nugget of real life lore.

Lara CroftвЂ™s previous journeys have taken her on quests for magical daggers said to command ancient armies and spelunking through Norse underworlds in order to gather archaic armor rumored to belong to the gods.

The lost city tomb survival cache