Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance/Level 9: Hack n Sniff

This level wants to beat the heck out of you right from the start. Bash the barbarians who were waiting for you and head through the door and down into another room where a Mino Drake is lurking amongst some barrels. The door right ahead of you is locked with the black key, you'll find it in the southern one of the side chambers off of this room; the other side chamber contains a treasure hoard.

Through the door and up the ramp, continue to fight your way through the guards. You find yourself in a four-way lava chamber. Fire resistance is helpful here to deal with the Fiends and get to the central control post which has pull chains to open the doors. The chain immediately in front of you will close off the way back, but go ahead and pull the other three. One path is further locked with a brass key, so you'll have to pick one of the others.

The way to complete the level lies to the east, so unless you want the side stuff, go there now. Head to the end of the stained glass hallway, being wary of ambushes as you go. Turn right, then right again. The brass key is in the central pillar of this small room, but hurry to grab it before it gets closed in! Once you have the key, you might also want to visit the armory in this area for some nice items.

Backtrack to where you turned off from the stained glass hallway, and follow the other branch. The eastern fork has a floor plate that will open the doors to the exit area (you'll hear them creak). You might want to save before you do this as sometimes it glitches and kills you. Now that you've got the brass key, head back to the four-way lava room and through the brass key door to find the pentagram. To safely collect it, you'll have to use a fire resistance potion. The arrows aren't "fire" but the potion will protect you none the less. Take the pentagram back to the stained glass hall and through the door on your left to return it to its place and escape.

Tips and secrets:
 * The west area from the four-way lava room contains a Hero Time, but not much else aside from enemies and opportunities for death. Beware of spike pits behind the windows if you break them.
 * The northwesternmost room is an armory of sorts. Pull the right-hand switch to open up side chambers with even more goodies, including Hero Time and an Ornate Horn.
 * In the northern area where the floor pad is, fly across the lava to find some potions and a seemingly useless glass key. Don't try to cross this gap by jumping unless you feel like dying a horrible death; if you've only got one fly spell make your trip a quick one.