The Secret Level in Episode 1: Bright Crucible
Opening the Portal to the Bright Crucible
To get to the secret level, you need to solve a few more puzzles on the
Seven Portals.
First, don't forget to pull the switches on top of the two stairs on the
Seven Portals (not the ones that open Gate 4, but the ones that give you a
message that doors are opening on the Guardian of Ice). After you pull both
switches, enter the portal in Gate 2 to go to the Guardian of Ice.
Guardian of Ice (3)
Two doors have opened outside the dark room where you enter the Guardian of
Ice. You can go to either room first, but I recommend the one on the right
since the Afrits in there might sneak up on you from behind while you're busy
doing something in the other room.
Go into the room on the right and get rid of the Afrits. Go down the stairs
on the right
and pull the switch. Fireballs will start to spew in the pit in the middle
of the room. You need to run up the stairs and jump across the pit to the
opposite side. There's a switch the small room here: pull it, and a portal
behind this small room opens. Now, jump back across the pit and go behind
this small room. Enter the portal, which takes you to a new are in the
Guardian of Fire.
This is the room on the left. Don't rush inside; as soon as you step in,
the traps on the side walls activate. Time yourself carefully (notice the
pattern that the balls of spikes are shot across the room) and go across to
the end of the room. There is an icy room on the left with a pillar in the
middle. The other side of the pillar has a switch you should pull. But
don't just stand there after pulling the switch! You'll get
poison darts on your back. You need to kill the centaurs that appear before
the door of the room opens again. Leave the icy room and you'll see a portal
that just opened. Get your weapons ready, and your healing potions handy
(yes, it's a very nasty place inside there!) and step in to get to a new
area in the Guardian of Steel.
You start in a small room. The wall in front will open as you step in. Go
into the room and follow the ledge on the left. Be careful on the way:
there's a wall here that will push you into the lava pit in the middle of the
room: run fast to get past it. Now wait a moment and the lava in the pit will
rise. Now, go to the pillar in the middle of the room and pull the switch.
Jump back to the side of the room and exit the room. You'll find yourself in
the room with the lava pillar. If you haven't been to the left room on the
Guardian of Ice, or haven't entered the portal there, go
there now. If you have activated the switch on the Guardian of Steel,
go back to the Seven Portals.
The portal in the Traps Room on the Guardian of Ice takes you to an icy
room on the Guardian of Steel. For those playing on high difficulty settings:
have plenty of healing potions in hand, and run around and
fire wildly as soon as you enter this place. After killing the Wendigos here,
the walls will lower to reveal a larger room. You probably have seen this
larger room from the central room in the Guardian of Steel. Unless you're
very, very expert in the game, don't expect to kill the wendigos in the room
(also, more will teleport in after you kill them, so don't waste your energy):
run for the elevators (look at the map to find out where they
are) and get out before you get killed!
The two elevators take you to the two rooms behind the fast doors. Now go to
the other two rooms behind the fast doors and take the elevators there. This
will take you to the other area you can see from the central room on this
level. This place has a lot of crushers. Always time yourself carefully when
crossing these crushers. Look for a switch somewhere inside here (it's behind
a crusher... look at the map to see where the switch is). Activate this
switch.
Now go back to the central room in this level. Some walls have opened in the
area in the centre. Climb inside there, where there's a torch on a dark
pedestal. Jump on the pedestal and grab the torch. This triggers something,
and you'll get a message that stones are grinding on the Seven Portals.
If you haven't been to the right room on the Guardian of Ice yet, or haven't
entered the portal there that takes you to the new are in the Guardian of
Fire, go there now.
If you've pulled the switches in the Guardian of Fire and the Guardian of
Steel, go to the Seven Portals. The area behind the highest stairs should now
open. Go inside this area and jump into the water. There is an invisible
portal here that takes you to the Bright Crucible.
Solving the Puzzle on the Bright Crucible
Note: there are many horrible monsters here; you should
figure out a way of getting rid of them before you continue. Wings of Wrath
would be very helpful here (you can find them behind Gate 4 in the Seven
Portals).
When you start, you are facing SOUTH. Turn right (face WEST) and jump into
the muck. Or, if you've already jumped down somewhere in the process of
killing the monsters, go to the WEST side of the level. Step on the elevator
in front of the ledge on the NORTHWEST wall (the one with the Chaos Serpent).
Enter the tunnel behind the ledge, and keep going until you come to a room
with spewing fireballs. In the centre of the room there's a red object. Run
into the room and grab it.
This is the Heart of D'Sparil (for those of you who
don't know: D'Sparil was the first of the three serpent riders. He was the
last boss monster in the game Heretic). The fireballs will cease once you
picked up this object. Now, go outside to the EAST side of the level and
take another elevator on the NORTHEAST ledge where a chaos serpent is.
Go into the tunnel behind the ledge once you get up there, and follow the
corridor all the way to the end, where there is a stained glass wall blocking
entrance into a room spewing with fireballs. To get into the room, you need to
barge through it; just shooting at it is not enough. Run
against it, push it, and shoot at it (some combination of these) and it will
shatter. Now unless you want to get burned by the fireballs, quickly place
D'Sparil's Heart on the stand in the centre of the room.
The fireballs will stop. If you like, you can barge through the other stained
glass wall too, which will take you up to another ledge where another Chaos
Serpent was shooting at you. Anyway, after placing D'Sparil's Heart on the
stand, a long flight of stairs will rise from the muck in the south part
of the level, all the way up to where you first teleported in. Also, a hidden
area on the north side of the level has opened (behind where you teleported
in). There are a few serpents in there, and you can also find an Icon of the
Defender.
Now, go down the long flight of stairs into the muck. Follow the flow of the
muck and go underground. Here's a portal that will take you back to the
Seven Portals.
Previous level: Seven Portals: solving the puzzle
Next episode: Shadow Wood (Episode 2)
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