Hexen/Guardian of Ice

You'll need to visit this level twice in the process of completing this episode's main puzzle. If this is your second visit, having entered from the west-side center door in Seven Portals, skip down to Part 2 below.

Part 1
When you first enter the level, via the portal past the east-side center door in Seven Portals, you'll be in a small, dark room. Behind you is a window looking into another room that's presently unreachable. Through the door, watch for some Ettins waiting on either side of you. Also on either side you'll find narrow doors, one of patterned black stone and the other rusted metal, that are "barred." These go to bonus areas and will be accessible much later.

Continue ahead into a larger, empty room. At the far end, if you're playing the Fighter on skill levels 4 or 5, you'll get your #2 weapon. Go to the end of the room and the floor will lower, revealing a larger room, and a stairway leading down from the doorway you came from will form at the same time. Enemies will spawn. Note those four columns in here. Find and pull the switch at the far end of the room, then watch the columns. They'll slam down and raise up a few times, and a glowing dagger-shaped symbol will form on the floor and ceiling, pointing at one. Underneath this column is an invisible portal back to Seven Portals. Avoid the other three columns: they're crushers that will activate when you step under them.

Your initial task here is done; return to Seven Portals. The two side doors on the east side of the courtyard will now be open.

Part 2
You'll arrive in a different part of the level, in a room with low ledges on either side, and doorways toward the left and right. These both lead to a short corridor, which continues to the left to other areas. Between the two doorways, on the opposite side, is a small room with a switch. Pull this and go back to the room you started in. The low ledges will turn into stairways leading up along the walls, and a third center doorway going to the corridor will open. Go up both stairways and pull the switches you come to. As you do, torches on each side will light. The two switches complete the first of three parts of the main puzzle. Enemies will spawn below, and two compartments will have opened as you pulled the switches, a small one inside a larger. Inside the small one you'll often (but not always) find an item, usually Green or Blue Mana.

Continue beyond the area via the corridor, and you'll find a route leading outside to the left, and another to the right. Go right first, and step slowly into the small room you come to. A trap shooting ice shards will activate. Wait for it to finish before continuing forward. The route doubles back to the left and curves to the right and up, and dead-ends next to a switch. It lowers a lift leading up, but before continuing, go back the way you came (watch for the ice-shard trap) to the outdoor area you passed.

Outside
Out here is a frozen area taken up mostly by a fairly deep pit, but not fatally deep like the ones in many other places. Follow the ledge to the left, and jump to the pillar, where you'll find a Mystic Urn, and to the ledge beyond where there's a Torch. You can jump down into the pit and clear out the enemies if you want. You'll take a few points of damage if you do, so gather health first if you need to. To exit, find the rusty panel, which is a tall lift that will lower, and take it up to the curving passage. You'll get an additional Quartz Flask on top of the lift.

Go up the lift at the top of the curving passage. There's a good-size ambush here, so be ready for it. You'll see this is the room beyond the window in the dark room where you entered last time, only now the window has converted into a doorway. Continue to the lower room where you went the last time you were here, and you'll see two more glowing dagger symbols pointing to the walls to either side of the stairway. There are hidden doors in these two places that will now open.

Fire Key
Go through the door to your right. In here is a tall room with a pillar of ice in an empty pool. On the far wall, look for the section of black stone, where it looks like an object has been broken off. This is where the Flame Mask you found in the Guardian of Fire belongs. Replace it--you can simply press your "use" key--then turn around, take care of the Afrits and enjoy the show. Panels on either side will open, with a lava fall behind each, and, oddly, those tiny pools in the four corners will also fill with lava. The heat from the lava will slowly melt the ice pillar and the water will fill the pool. On top of the pillar is the Fire Key. With this, you can now get through those locked doors in the Guardian of Fire.

Steel Key
Go through the door that was to the left of the stairway, and ride the lift up. Ahead is a large ice cave, with two passages leading to another cave beyond. Step forward, then wait. The floor will break up into many irregular sections, which will shift up and down for several seconds. When things settle down, look in the far cave if you want. You'll find some steps leading to a high pillar with a key out of reach on top. Go back to the first cave and look along the wall that was to your left when you first came here. You'll come to a switch: press it, then stop and wait. The cave disintegrates again, except this time some of the floor and ceiling sections will slam together and present a crushing hazard, plus several deep pits and chasms will form.

Again, wait for things to settle down, then carefully work your way to the far cave. The pillar up the steps has lowered: collect the Steel Key on top. You'll now be able to get into that door in the central room in the Guardian of Steel. Stop and wait when you pick it up: this cave will also disintegrate, but not severely like the first one did. When things finish shifting, turn around: a few compartments have opened and released enemies. There's mana inside the compartments.

Your tasks in the Guardian of Ice are now finished. Carefully cross over the first cave to the entrance, and return to Seven Portals, where the two remaining doors on the west side will now be open.