GORGE KEEP (optional) 

Goal: Cross the Scar to get to the Iron Titan. 

If you decide to cross into desolation through Gorge Keep get ready for a
fight. This place is good for racking up fight and spell points because it is
full of enemies. The layout is really simple and there are no heavy tricks to
the place. Enter and you find yourself in a huge room full of  Slog Riders.
This room is a magic free zone, so you can't use spells. You have to fight. 
Run if you have to or choose a corner and fight them one by one. To the north
is a long hall leading to the other exit. But it's useless to go that way
until you have raised the portcullis. Enter to the east of the large room and
go all the way north. Kill all the guards until you get a key. Take that key
back to the large room and enter the western area. Go north and find a chest
with a glowing ember inside. Take that to the south eastern room where a man
is encased in ice. Drop it on the floor. He will give you a key when he thaws
out. Go north to the one room you couldn't get into before. Use the wooden
dowel you should have found earlier and insert it in the mechanism. Move it
all the way to the left. Also throw all the switches on the wall to turn off
the spinners. Now you can make it to the north exit. But get ready to fight
three messengers waiting for you. 

THE IRON TITAN

Quest item:  Invincible Iron

This three level area is one of the most complex of all the dungeons. It is
also full of some nasty monsters and traps. It's the first dungeon to have
pits, so watch your step. The monsters here are poisonous, so start using the
anti-poison shield when you enter this joint. 

This place is really tough to get through and a nuisance to back out of, so
make sure you have all the quest items you need before trying on this maze.
The only things you won't have by now are the Wood and the Iron for the chest.
These you get here and the next dungeon. 

Okay, upon entering you will see a big area to the north with lots of blocks
and four pressure plates. It's kind of a simple puzzle. You want to push the
blocks next to the plates onto the plates, which creates teleporters. Then
push the remaining blocks into each of the teleporters and step through. This
will take you to four separate rooms with pressure plates. Push the blocks
onto the plates and take the escape 'porters outta there. 

This will open up some halls around the rest of the first floor. Before you
weigh the blocks down, there will be holes in the floor that will drop you
down below. Unless you want to deal with that, just push them blocks. 

The puzzle is simple. To the north and south of the plates are the blocks you
push on them. The other four blocks go into each of the teleporters that
appear. Shove them on the plates in those rooms. 

Straight to the north of the entrance is a giant head coming out the floor.
Talk to him and hear his story. He needs you to use a magic immersion spell to
free him. But the area he is in is a no magic zone. There is a switch to the
east that will shut it off. Go into the east hall and follow it around to the
north. On the way you will come across a pressure plate that opens up a room
with two altars in it. 

To the west is some chests with goodies and a cube of magic immersion maker.
For some weird reason, if you use the cube sitting on the floor, another will
appear. I always do it just because it may have some purpose in the game. 

Shrink the big guy's head, then walk past him and head for the stairs. A lot
of  blocks will be in your way. Either push them or destroy them. After the
first block you will find an illusory wall. It leads to a room full of stamina
potions. You may want to use them to help you with the blocks, but I never
bother. 

Now head down to the second floor. 

First, go north until you have to turn right past four closed doors. A rolling
rock will be in this area. You will see a south passage near the fourth door.
Go down it. Put a bag of rocks on the pressure plate, then throw the switch on
the wall. This will shut of the no magic zone on this level. Now walk past the
plate and take your bag back. 

Go back to the south. The hall wraps around and you will see a hole in the
floor. A plate in an alcove closes the hole. Go into the illusory wall and
shrink the giant's torso the way you did before. Now go back to the hall and
keep on going west. It will curve like a snake. Beware of holes in the floor
that open and close and spinners. On the way you will see a mana altar.
Eventually you will come to a room with a plate in the center and four pebbles
on the floor. Pick up the pebbles. Step on the plate. A teleporter will
appear. Step into it. Drop a pebble on the plate where you appeared. Enter the
escape 'porter and repeat until you have visited four separate rooms and
weighed down four plates. 

Now make your way back to the area to the north east where the four closed
doors were (and the switch). The doors will be open. The first three have
chests. The fourth takes you to a Packrat's lair. This is the only Packrat I
found in the game. If you find any others, let me know at the above e-mail
address. 

Now you can go to the third level. Pass the shrunken body. You will enter a
room with lightning wild tornadoes and rolling rocks. Do a reflections on the
lake spell and find the chest to the north. The stairs down are in the west. 

The third and final level is pretty easy. Explore all the rooms you can until
you have five iron dragon keys. The monsters down here are Swarm Maidens. I
found the Fountain of Scorching Vapors spell kicks their ass. Usually only one
does the trick. You should have got that from the guy in the waterfall in
front of Gorge Keep. 

Anyway, after you have all the keys you can unlock the five doors leading to
the exit. On the way you will pass a room with two altars. Take the stairs up
and up. When you reach the first level a messenger will attack you. He will
drop a Soul Link spell when you kill him. 

Now head out the door and straight for the land with the hand. 

THE QUAGMIRE

Quest Items: The Sword "Soul Wrought", Wood from the Wicked Tree, The Whistle
of Fiery Summons, the Spell of Dance on the Stone of Winds

This place is pretty cut and dry. With won't even detail it for you.
Basically, you're going to deal with a big, one level maze full of monsters.
There are some important things to do here though, so pay attention. 

Turn on all switches you see. They look like wood knots in sticks imbedded in
the walls. Keep your eye peeled for illusory walls. There are lots of them on
this level and they hide a lot of important stuff. The monsters here are
poisonous, so keep using that anti-poison shield. 

Near the entrance a messenger attacks you. He'll drop a whistle of fiery
summons. Save it for later. It's important. 

Make your way to the North West first. You will find a lot of Mire Lurks,
those green snaky dudes who do bad Peter Lorre imitations. Here you will find
a lot of gold coins. You'll need them. Trust me. A big throne area around here
has two plates. If you drop a rock bag on each one a wall opens revealing a
chest with a suit of armor. This armor is inferior to the knights armor, but
it slows poison. If you have the poison shield, you don't need it. If you want
to look like a lizard man, this armor is for you, though. 

North of this area is a hidden room, behind an false wall that moves when you
put a bag of rocks on a plate (behind an illusory wall). There are wind chimes
in a chest. Get them. 

Once you clean out this area, head southeast. You will find some illusory
walls and lots of Murk Elementals. Eventually you will find a talking sword
being held by two magic chains. Put money in the holes to free it. This is the
second best sword in the game and you will need it. 

In the west, behind some illusory walls, is a wind elemental. With the chimes
in your possession you can understand her. She will teach you an important
spell you will need in Fire Mountain. 

Finally, go to the center where the Wicked Tree is. It's surrounded by rocks
and protected by those Beast of Trung. Use the yellow sword to chop off a
piece of wood. You now have all the pieces you need to build the dark slag
container. 

Head to the north east and the exit. You will end up on top of the giant hand.
Use the whistle of firey summons and you will be taken to the Dark Lords...I
mean the Warlord's tower. 

FIRE MOUNTAIN

Goal: Meet Black Gnarl, get him to make you the Container, find the words of
opening. 

Okay, you need to go here after the Quagmire, but you've ended up on the
Warlord's doorstep instead. No problemo. Just enter the Warlord's tower. Two
Sword Thanes will attack you (and a Cacofiend, which you can ignore for now if
you like). One of the Sword Thanes will drop a gold ankh key. Use it on the
door to your right. Enter the 'porter and head for the nearest exit. You will
be facing Fire mountain. Step off the landing and you will be teleported
there. Now enter. 

This place is on two levels. The first level is similar to the Barrier, in
that you need to open doors to get through the mountain so you can reach the
Anvil of the Dawn. But first you have to meet Black Gnarl and get your
container made. To enter the stairs leading down you will need to find four
iron marks and an amulet called the Sigil of Fire. You also need to find a
scroll with the Words of Opening on it. This is all fairly simple. 

You enter in the west. To the north is an opening. This leads to two altars. 

Ahead in the east-west hall are pressure plates. These open and close holes in
the floor. You do not want to fall through these holes because the second
level is deadly hot. You need to find the Sigil of Fire before you can go down
there. So be careful. The spell the wind woman gave you will allow you to
float over holes and move faster. But when you use this spell, make sure you
aren't standing over a pressure plate when it wears off. For some reason this
is deadly. 

Anyway, down the hall, to the south are two illusory walls. The first leads to
an area you need to explore. In there, behind an illusory wall, you will find
a scroll with the words of opening on it. Read the scroll then toss it.
Another hall in this area is found behind an illusory wall. It has spinners
and holes in the floor. If you can make it to the end you will find a
teleporter. It will take you to an area where you can find the Sigil of Fire
in a chest. Put it on. 

Now, once you clean out this section of the map, head back down the hall. The
second south passage leads to a door that requires and iron mark. You will
need at least three of them to enter through to the stairs leading down. So go
west down the hall to the first opening in the north. This leads to a hall of
teleporters. To the east is a illusory wall. Go down this hallway to an area
where there is a spinner that will make it really hard for you to weight down
a plate in an alcove. Do it anyway. An illusory wall in the north of this area
has a mark and some old armor. Go back to the teleporters. Enter and  keep
entering them until you end up in a room to the west. You will find some
useful stuff in here. 

Between the teleporters is an illusory wall to the north. Enter there, head
east then north. In the end of that hall is a room. In a south west wall of
this room is a switch that opens passages to the east and west. The western
room has some rad armor that is less powerful than the knight's armor but it
gives to 25% protection against fire spells. To the east is a complex area
with holes in the floor, and spinners. A south passage in this section has
illusory walls to east and west. Put on a Dancing Winds Spell and float into
these rooms. Put bags on the plates until a pressure plate is revealed at the
south end of the hall. Put something on it then repeat until a second plate is
revealed. After weighing this down, two rooms open up. In one of these rooms
you'll find War Render, the best sword in the game. Use it for everything
except the Castellan, whom you'll be fighting soon. 

Once you've explored all the areas you can, head back to the room with the
mark doors to the south. Put an iron mark in the hole and you'll find another
door wanting a mark. In the next to last room an illusory wall to the south
will provide the fourth mark, if you need it. 

Make sure you have that Sigil of Fire on. Now go downstairs. 

This part is easy. There are a bunch of infernal bones in this place to fight.
There are blocks and rocks here. Push a block on one of the plates or roll a
rock onto one. A door will open in the center of the dungeon. There are four
plates controlling four doors. You only need to open one. Go in and find Black
Gnarl. He's hard to miss. Talk to him and he'll make you the Container. 

Now head back to the Warlord's tower. By stepping off the landing in front of
fire mountain (the side you came in, west) you will end up back at the tower. 

THE WARLORD'S TOWER

Goal: Get the Dark Slag

This place is pretty simple and by now you should find it easy to kill the
monsters because you should have the best swords in the game. Two words of
warning. Watch out for holes in the floor and keep a Reflections on the Lake
spell going at all times. You will keep out of harm that way. 

The switches look like bull horns on a demon face. Pull them down whenever you
see them. 

I think the best way to do this place is kill everything you see on the first
level and try to clean out every room. In the north of the first floor you
will find the barracks. Lots of Sword Thanes here. Kill them, get the keys. 

The southern barracks room has a block standing near a pressure plate. Ignore
the teleporter in the alcove. Push the block onto the plate. It opens a door
down the hall. In that room you can find Cloudburst, a shield that helps make
you immune to lightning. Though I think a reflection spell is the best way to
go. 

One room in the north has a lot of pressure plates and lightning spells going
off. Cast a Reflections spell, walk over the plates until the doors open
revealing the chests. Get the key you need inside. 

The altars are right off the main entrance room. They are opened by using a
wren key. You need to hit the switches on either side of the room to reveal
the wren keyholes. But you have to move fast because rolling rocks are turning
off the switches. Pull it and a door opens. Use the key and you can get to the
altars. 

When you have cleaned out this place, use the pearl serpent key to open the
door in the north of the entrance hall. This reveals a teleporter that takes
you to the stairs going up. But before you can find the stairs you have to
deal with a few annoyances. Avoid the rolling rocks. Go to the north east
hallway and put a block on the plate in the alcove east. Now walk through the
illusory wall to your west and step on the pressure plate. A wall opens
revealing a door. Use the sun key to get in and head upstairs. 

On the second floor, keep your reflector spell going. You will enter a room
with three blocks and one rock. Destroy the block south of he rock with your
sword. Now get behind the rock and push it north into the blocks above it. Now
destroy the block to the east of it. Now go where that block was and push the
rock west, then south onto the pressure plate. If you return to the hall, you
will see a passage opened to the stairs going up. 

On the third floor you will find an illusory wall north of where you come up
the stairs. A switch in there opens a nearby door. Pass the gold ankh door,
and head upstairs. 

On the fourth floor, fight you way to the room with the Wither Priest. Take
the key in the chest. Now return to the third level. 

Go to the door, open it with the gold key. Make sure you have the golden sword
"Soulwrought" equipped as your sword. You better do a save. And make sure you
are healed up. Head north, kill the cacodemons, avoid the rocks and find
Castellan. He's the dude in the purple armor to the north. Talk to him then
get ready for a fight. 
When he's dead, enter the alcove, pull the switch. In the next room you will
find the dark slag. MAKE SURE YOU ARE HOLDING THE CONTAINER WHEN YOU PICK IT
UP. MAKE SURE IT GOES INTO THE CONTAINER. The container will be shut when it's
in there. If what I just said doesn't work, try picking it up with your hand
or variations, but it must go into the container or you will suffer. 

All right. One last dungeon. Make your way to the exit and head for fire
mountain. 

THE ANVIL OF THE DAWN

Goal: Destroy the Dark Slag

Enter fire mountain gain. Put blocks on the pressure plates to the north in
the east west hall to open the doors leading east. Exit the mountain and head
for that light in the sky. 

After crossing the ice, you come to a mountain door guarded by an armless
giant. Talk to him, then use the spell of Heavenly Mend. Now talk to him again
and say the words of opening. You will now be able to enter the final part of
this game. 

Just when you think you're almost done, they throw one more obstacle in your
path...an invisible maze. This part of the game can be the most frustrating.
But I will help you through. 

The first area has three exits to the east and a rolling rock that sits on a
pressure plate to the south. Throw the two switches before you until you get
the rock to the north side. Then make it go south. You should now be able to
walk through the north most eastern opening. 

This part is hard to describe, but feel your way east near the north wall,
then about half way, turn south and head for that plate in the center of the
room. You have to walk about one space past it or so then head back west all
the way until you see a switch on the wall. Throw it. Now feel your way over
to the plate and step on it. 

Okay, you can now feel your way south to an illusory wall. Enter and stand a
pace or two away from the ice worm. Throw that spear Steelripper at it a few
times to kill it. Or fight it with your sword if you really want to. These
things are tough, though. A Vampire Mist spell doesn't hurt. 

Enter the illusory wall to the north and push the block you will eventually
see over one. Then push it east onto a plate. There is an illusory wall to the
south. Enter and you will be in a room with one alcove and three plates. East,
South, and West. Step on the east plate and a teleporter appears in the
alcove. Enter. You should be in a room with two teleporters and a block. If
only one teleporter is there, go back to the plate room through the porter and
step on the south plate. Check your map to see if a second porter came on in
that other room. If not step back and forth on the east and south plates until
one does. Now enter that porter and push the block through the nearest porter.
Teleport into the plate room, push the block onto the east plate. Weight down
the south plate with a block or a bag of rocks and leave the area. You can
start divesting yourself of bags now. You only need two rocks after this. 

After leaving the first room, head back to that plate in the middle of the
main room and step on it again. Now work your way east of there. You will be
able to go all the way east just north of a big eastern opening. When you hit
the wall, turn north then west and enter the illusory wall to the north. You
will be in a big room after stepping on a pressure plate to open a door. On
both sides of this big room are thrones. The old gods sat on these things.
Looks like they bought their furniture at Levitz. No variation. Anyway, ignore
these areas. Go all the way east and fight the ice worms. A chest in the back
has a silver chalice. Take it. 

Now go back to the plate in the main room and step on it two times. You should
now be able to work your way south again to another illusory wall further east
on the south wall. A teleporter on the other side takes you to a room in a big
circle. Twelve plates are in this room like numbers on a clock. Put a rock on
the north and south plates. Now walk over every plate in the room, making a
circle. A passage will open to a teleporter to the main room. You can now work
your way to the big eastern opening. Kill the worm. Put the chalice in the
hole and a door will open. Almost there!

First, put on the wreath of hallowed leaves. Now activate a soul link spell.
Exit through the eastern door (do a save for the hell of it, you never know). 

Heading east you will meet the Warlord himself. I guess he likes hanging out
in weird ass locales. Anyway, talk to him. He will lay a Darth Vader rap on
you. Don't accept the dark side, Luke. Trust me. After talking to him you can
only do one thing. Walk to the Anvil of the Dawn. 

For an alternate ending, do everything I just said, but don't wear the wreath
or use a soul link spell. 

See ya in the next game!