Castle of the Winds/Monsters

Castle of the Winds includes 90 types of monsters, plus several bosses.

Animals
Wild animals have always been a danger to travelers. This is especially true In the depths of the dungeon, where fierce competition and the occasional intervention of foul magic have caused some creatures to grow to enormous size.

There are several varieties of bears that roam the hills and caves of the land, and all are considered dangerous foes. The fiercest of these is the monstrous cave bear, a giant omnivore that stands 8-10 feet tall on its hind legs. The brown bear, while smaller in stature, is still a mighty opponent, and both these creatures can do substantial damage with both claw and bite.

Strategy: Both types of bear are very threatening at the level you first encounter them and should be handled with care - with their multiple claws and bites can roll very high damage attacks, and they are decently sturdy. The Cave Bear in particular should not be taken lightly until very late in the game.

Ant: dog-sized giant insect. Ants will range a great distance from their nest in search of food to claim. They are formidable foes, with a crushing bite and stiffly armored body, and a potent sting used in defense. An ant will fight to the death.

Strategy: Don't be fooled by its size! Ants are not only very heavily armored and difficult to damage, but they cause high damage with their bites. It's recommended to hurl a few magic arrows spells at them before engaging them in melee. Make sure you're reasonably armed with a good weapon (i.e. not a Dagger) and a decent Armor Value (30+).

Overgrown versions of the common cave bat, these creatures haunt deserted ruins and dark caverns below ground. While their bite does little damage, their speed and maneuverability makes them difficult to hit, and their tendency to flit in and out of range makes them dangerous opponents for beginning adventurers.

Strategy: As their description outlines, the bats don't hit for very much damage. However, they are much faster than you and tend to move haphazardly. However, once you manage to land a hit, they go down very easily. If you're a low level, then use Magic Arrow to take them down in one shot. Otherwise, attack them in melee.

Inhabitants of the seedy underbelly of mankind's civilization, rats have scavenged our leavings for millennia. The rats in the caves and dungeons below the castle, however, are larger and more intelligent than their city cousins, and when found in numbers can be much more deadly.

Strategy: These guys should be no problem to handle in melee. You can also use one or two Magic Arrows to take them down, but why waste the Mana? Just be careful when you encounter them in large groups. Occasionally the random dungeon generator puts several of these beasts in a single room.

These creatures are rarely found on the surface, for they cannot take the cold. Once a curiosity in the king's court, where the High Wizard had brought them from the south, they escaped after the destruction of the castle and fled into the caves below. Volcanic heat from deep in the earth provided a climate warm enough for them to survive, and in some cases thrive. Beware the poison sting of their tail!

Strategy: Like the Viper, the Giant Scorpion's main threat comes from its poisonous sting. Killing one should not be a problem, but make sure you have a neutralize poison or sufficient healing to survive after you have done so. It may be best to take the Scorpion out at range if it is part of a group of foes. You might need 4 Magic Arrows to kill one.

Spider: overgrown cousin of the eight-legged predator of house and field, ranging in size from large cat to draft horse. Many carry a venomous bite, quickly lethal to warm-blooded prey. All are swift runners and dangerous.

Strategy: Like many of the other basic beast foes, the Giant Spider is a challenging opponent at the stage you first encounter them, but soon become little more than a nuisance as you grow stronger. In the first game, there is at least one instance of a 'spider room' with many of these enemies. Here drawing them into a corridor exploits their lack of a ranged attack and negates their advantage of numbers. Despite their description in the game's bestiary (copied above), spiders do not inflict poison.

Like the scorpions in the castle, this creature started out as a part of the High Wizard's animal collection, and has since adapted to life in the caves beneath the castle. These large saurians live underground to escape the cold above. When not mating, these lizards are solitary, prowling their territory in search of food. They are slow moving, but their scaly hide provides armor against most attacks, and their bite can do much damage.

Strategy: The Huge Lizard is quite sturdy, and may take a while to kill at first. With this in mind, try to avoid fighting additional enemies at the same time as this foe. On the offensive, the Lizard is less impressive, and after sufficient armor and levels you will quickly take little to no damage from them.

Snake: a strangling sea monster, adapted to land. Since longships first met the waves, Vikings and sailors have feared the great snakes of the sea, which can break a ship's hull in their powerful coils. Recently, travelers have brought reports of similar (though mercifully smaller) snakes on land, hiding in dense forests or ruins.

Strategy: Similar to its larger cousin the Huge Lizard, the Large Snake emphasises defence over attack. Whilst they may pose a threat to very low-level adventurers, they are generally a very basic foe that will soon pose little problem.

Viper: large serpent with a venomous bite. While poisonous snakes are not common in the land, a sufficiently ruthless householder may plant a few as guardians to deter thieves and other intruders. Of course, it will bite friends as well as foes, and so is most useful when you have but few friends.

Strategy: The Viper is very easy to kill and will do little damage with its attacks. However, it posesses a powerful poison which can quickly kill low-level adventurers. Without sufficient healing or a neutralize poison effect, it is much safer to take one out at a distance early on, as it can take 3 Magic Arrows to kill it.

First Castle level has a 2x2 room with trapdoors, all leading to a room full of Vipers and Large Snakes. While not particularly threatening at this point, the player should take care not to fall there on low health and without means of evacuation.

Ages past, mankind bred domesticated canines from their wild cousins. Not all dogs were tamed, however, and some that were have gone back to the wilds. While still less dangerous than wolves, beware the claws and bite of these hunters, especially if found in packs.

Strategy: These enemies appear in the 2nd level of the Mine. Though too tough to handle for very low level characters (CL less than 3), they can be taken down relatively easily in melee combat.

Wolves and men have been enemies for centuries, despite our successful attempts to breed domestic canines millennia ago. Although most fearsome in packs, even a single gray wolf can be deadly to an unprepared adventurer. But even more dangerous is the rare white wolf, whose chill breath can freeze the blood in a man's veins.

Strategy: Probably the second toughest animal foe after the bear, Wolves also have the ability to attack multiple times in one round, giving them a higher than average damage output. Both the Gray and White varities will be very dangerous when first encountered, though the former should pose little problem by the time you reach Surtur's fortress. Also worth noting is the White Wolf's freeze attack, against which it might be worth using a Resist Cold effect. Note, that the White Wolf itself is not resistant to cold.

Dragons
Dragon (or Wyrm): any one of a number of magical, serpentine monsters. Dragons are among the most feared monsters of ballad and legend. Even the smallest are mighty foes, so it is fortunate that they are slow in attaining their full growth. Most are quite intelligent, and there are rumors of spell use among the older dragons, although this has never been confirmed. Even without magic, however, a dragon is a virtual whirlwind of destruction. Besides the deadly attacks of its claws and bite, all dragons have breath weapons of colossal power. The type of breath weapon varies with the color of the dragon, and the damage it does varies with the age of the dragon, but in all cases it can be fatal to the unprepared!

Strategy: Dragons as a whole will continue to be a threatening foe throughout the second half of the game. Indeed, the Ancient Red Dragon is probably the strongest basic enemy that can be encountered. Each dragon's strength is determined by its age: Young, Young Adult, Adult, Old, Very Old, and Ancient. Older dragons are vastly more powerful than their younger relatives; if you are able to easily slay Young Adults and run into an Old Dragon without checking, it will probably be your last mistake. Therefore, always check a Dragon's age by right-clicking on it before fighting.

The different varieties of Dragon in order of weakest to strongest are Green (Poison), White (Cold), Blue (Lightning) and Red (Fire). Again, the difference in power between, say, an Old Green and Old Red Dragon is quite significant, and something to bear in mind.

All Dragons have powerful breath attacks, and more than any other creature it is wise to equip the appropriate resistance before fighting them, as this will drastically decrease their potential damage output.

Red dragons are the most feared of the dragons, and thus figure prominently in many ballads and legends. This scourge is found in many places, but especially in mountainous terrain and great underground caves. In battle, red dragons can belch forth enormous gouts of flame, capable of roasting even powerful opponents in seconds.

Blue dragons are typically found in arid, desert regions, but on some occasions they have been found deep in caves, living on the creatures that they find there. Their scales are a metallic blue in color, and frequently the air around them is charged with static electricity. The breath weapon of a blue dragon is a bolt of electricity, the charge for which is built up over time in the dragons body.

White dragons are the scourge of the frozen north. Their coloration makes them difficult to see against a snowy background, and they use this to great advantage when they emerge from their caves to hunt. The breath weapon is an icy blast, capable of freezing an opponent solid if they are not adequately protected.

Green dragons are probably the least dangerous of the dragons, for while their breath is a potent poison, the effects are not immediate. This means that if the dragon can be defeated soon enough, and the means for curing the poison is at hand, it is possible to survive the breath of a green dragon with few aftereffects. They are least deadly if the Neutralize Poison spell is known.

Devils
Devil: any evil monster from the underworld. The realms of chill Niflheim and fiery Muspelheim contain many evil creatures other than jotuns. Hideous and incomprehensible, they resemble monstrously misshapen men and women, distorted with various spines, barbs, horns, and tusks bristling from their colorful plated or scaled bodies. All are fearsome in battle, and resistant to many forms of attack. Most dangerous of all is their ability to open gates to their home planes and summon brethren to their aid.

Strategy: Devils will not be encountered until at least the 10th level of the final dungeon of the game, and are thus among the most formidable opponents one can face. Not only are they highly resilient and extremely damaging, they are resistant to cold, immune to fire, and are even capable of teleporting in allies. All but the strongest melee characters should at least weaken devils from a distance with lightning based attacks, and ideally isolate them from any other foes before facing them. If surprised by a devil, it will often be best to teleport/phase door away rather than facing it on unfavourable terms.

Spiked devils are the least powerful of those commonly encountered, but they are fearsome opponents nonetheless. They use no weapons, for their natural armament is more than sufficient. Their bodies are covered with a tough scaly hide and vicious spikes protruding from all the joints. They are also equipped with a spiked tail, with which they can lash their enemies in battle.

Horned devils are the errand runners of Surtur's realm. To them falls the task of spreading evil among mankind, and delivering orders to the legions of devils and giants that do his bidding. Horned devils are much larger than man sized, with great bat-like wings and large, curved horns. While not as equipped with weaponry as the spiked devils, horned devils are harder to hit and have some magic powers as well. In battle they can summon gouts of fire to burn their opponents, and have the power to gate in other horned devils to aid them.

Ice devils are creatures of chill Niflheim, sent to Midgard to spread fear in the cold wastes of the North. They have the ability to summon blasts of cold and ice, which makes them deadly in battle. While totally immune to the deepest cold, they are affected by fire, unlike most of the spawn of Muspelheim.

Abyss fiends are the greatest of the devils, with the exception of Surtur himself. They are his lieutenants and guards, trusted with all the most crucial tasks. Abyss fiends have great strength and are immune to many attacks. Like horned devils they have the ability to summon fire at will, and can gate in other devils to aid them.

Elementals
The creatures that live on the elemental planes are strange and fearsome to behold. Their origin gives them great power on this plane, where the elements have been mixed and diluted with lesser materials. In addition to the better known Air, Earth, Fire and Water Elementals, rumors have been whispered in mystic circles of interbreeding near the boundaries between the elemental planes, the offspring of these pairings resulting in new creatures of unknown aspect.

Air elementals appear on this plane as a tornado-shaped whirlwind, from 5 to 10 cubits high. They can buffet their opponents in battle, slamming them into walls and columns and doing great damage. On occasion, they have been known to pick up an opponent and flee, dropping them in another location.

Mighty denizens of the plane of earth, these creatures are slow but difficult to stop. They attack with blows of their enormous fists, each of which strikes with the force of a battering ram. They can break through doors with ease, and their earthy origin also allows them to pass through rock.

When summoned to this plane, these elementals appear as huge bonfires, although no fuel is visible at the base. Great favorites of Surtur, they are often used as messengers between his home in Muspelheim and his contacts on the plane of fire. They attempt to envelop their opponents in battle, using their fiery core to burn and consume them.

Water elementals appear on this plane as a cresting wave, and anyone who has felt the unstoppable force of the boundless ocean can vouch for the power of their attack. In battle, they will both slam their opponents against whatever is available, and attempt to drown them by enveloping them.

Humans and Humanoids
This section details the various types of men and manlike creatures that are likely to be encountered.

Goblins: predatory humanoid warrior tribe. These bandits roam craggy and mountainous areas, preying on lone travelers, small caravans, and small outlying townships. Vigorous military action has cleansed much of the land from their scourge; most of the survivors have fled deep into the mountains, or taken refuge in ruins and caves. Goblins range from three to four cubits in height, with the larger individuals ("fighters") bullying and leading the smaller; they have little other apparent organization, traveling in familial bands. Some tribes of goblins may enlist the protection of a larger monster, yielding to it a large share of any booty collected in exchange for its handling any outsized foes.

Strategy: Goblins are reasonably non-threatening. It's possible for a Character Level (CL) 1 player to actually melee goblins without coming to significant harm. However, in larger (3+) groups, they can be significantly threatening, unless the player is well equipped.

Goblin Fighters on the other hand are much more dangerous. They can easily kill characters below CL 3. Hence, if you encounter one, it's best to shoot a couple of magic arrows to soften them up before going toe-to-toe. Make sure you have a healing spell handy if you do decide to enter melee with them. Goblin Fighters tend to first appear in Mine Level 2 or 3. Both goblins and goblin fighters tend to drop 50-200 pieces of copper after defeat.

Hobgoblin: large, solitary goblin. Physically, a hobgoblin resembles a goblin fighter suffering from malnutrition, which is exactly what it is: the occasional survivor of an intra-tribal conflict, exiled from the tribe by the victorious chieftain. Hobgoblins wear armor stolen from humans or goblins, and wield any weapon that comes to hand. They hold no allegiance to their former tribe, but will usually avoid it in the interest of self-preservation. All other weaker creatures are possible game to a desperate hobgoblin. Occasionally hobgoblins will locate one another, and may form a small band of their own, though such bands are usually short-lived.

Strategy: Think of Hobgoblins as just slightly tougher Goblins (but not as tough as the Goblin Fighters). It's possible to go into melee with them at even low character levels as long as you're reasonably equipped. Hobgoblins on average tend to drop 50-150 copper pieces upon defeat.

Kobolds: diminutive race of miners. Originally from Svartalfheim, the kobolds live their lives entirely underground, mining for precious metals and stones; they are highly territorial, and will defend a rich lode against intruders. Occasionally they will band together and poach the mines of men, killing any miners they encounter. They need no light source, being used to moving through lightless tunnels, and can fight well in complete darkness; however, as a kobold stands less than two cubits tall, a single specimen stands but little chance against an armed and armored warrior of any skill. Kobolds fight with sundry bent knives and cleavers, or else with their mining picks and small sledges if at hand.

Strategy: Kobolds are likely the first foe that the player will encounter. Alone, they are almost no threat to a reasonably equipped player, even at character level 1. However, they can be dangerous when fought in large groups.

Ogre: huge, man-eating humanoid monster. Ogres superficially resemble gigantic humans of bestial aspect; they stand approximately six cubits tall, and weigh some thirty stone, or more for well-fed individuals. The face is broad and ruddy, with a mouth filled with jutting tusks; the skin is leathery and varies in color from ochre to brick red. An ogre will wield any sufficiently large weapon, and will wear patchwork or cap-and-pie armor when it can find such; typically, however, it carries but a crude club or spear. Ogres love gold and silver; indeed, the promise of lucre sometimes leads a more intelligent ogre to adopt the veneer of civilization and consort with humans, though its cruel hungers will eventually tell true.

Strategy: Ogres begin to appear at the lowest level of the mine, but are relatively more common in the fortress level. They are very dangerous to low level characters, causing heavy damage and hitting quite often. The best strategy is to weaken them with cold bolts and if you're a sufficient level (CL 5+) then go into melee. They tend to leave 10-50 silver pieces when defeated.

As long as men have coveted the possessions of their fellows, there have been thieves in the world, and many a man or woman has been turned to evil through Loki's temptation. Beware these ruthless ones, for despite the smirk they often show the world, they will rob you of your possessions and vanish before your eyes!

Strategy: Thieves don't hit hard but they hit often. They also have a few other abilities:
 * Each hit has a chance of taking some of the pieces in your purse - a failed attempt to take your money will generate a message "You feel a tug on your purse"; if a thief succeeds in taking your money, you will get the "Your purse feels lighter..." message. If your purse is empty, or you don't have it at all, every attempt to steal your money will fail.
 * They can steal any item your wear at your belt - if it's a pack, they will take it along with everything it contains; it looks like they don't take the belt itself, though. Once a thief takes an item from your belt, you will get the "Something seems missing..." message.
 * At random, they will vanish (has the same effects of a teleport spell but targeted on the Thief). With relatively high endurance, the best strategy is to use a couple of fire bolts to bite into their hit points and then quickly strike them down before they're able to vanish.
 * They pass through hidden doors.

More of an annoyance than a deadly enemy. They first appear in the early levels of the Fortress. 8th Fortress level also has a room guarded by a Thief and a few Bandits. If you manage to track down the Thief and kill him after he steals from you, you'll recover your possessions. Besides your posessions, a Thief drops a Purse with some pieces of Copper and Silver.

Troll: large, vicious, omnivorous humanoid with near-supernatural regenerative powers. Tall as an ogre, a troll appears all arms, legs, ribs, and jaws. Its slouch bends its gaunt, ribbed body halfway back to the ground; its olive-green skin, studded with warts, glistens with slime, while its black hair writhes like living snakes over large, wet black eyes. Each long, knotty limb is tipped with enormous claws. While a troll, ever hungry, will eat anything it can rend and swallow, it prefers warm flesh, which it can track with its keen sense of smell and dog-like intelligence. Life burns brightly within the troll, which can recover from a mortal wound within minutes. A troll fears fire.

Strategy: Contrary to the help file statement, their regenerative abilities are not that fearsome - a troll can be fairly easily put down with just the Magic Arrows (6 of them). They realy do seem vulnerable to fire, as 3 Fire Bolts is enough to kill them. In melee they are able to attack twice per turn, and the damage they deaL can be serious. Reasonably high character level (~7) and armor rating (~75) is required to defeat them in close combat. They start appearing since mid levels of the Fortress.

Mankind's curiosity is one of our greatest assets, but also one of our greatest weaknesses. Many have undertaken to explore the mysterious realm of power that surrounds our world, and not all have been wise or good men. Creatures such as manticores and carrion creepers, living statues and walking corpses, the results of their foul experiments, have become nightmares to the rest of us. Beware should you encounter any of these men or women, for they wield mighty magics with which to oppose you. Be especially careful of the dreaded Necromancers, who can summon undead from the nether regions to their aid.

Strategy: While not very strong physically, the magic they wield can pose a huge threat. They are fast and can further increase this advantage by casting Slow on the player. Besides that, they will attack the player with either Cold Bolt, Lightning Bolt or Fire Bolt. An injured Wizard can use Heal Medium Wounds or teleport to safety with either Phase Door or Teleport. Perhaps their most dangerous capability is the variant of Summon Monster, which always summons another Wizard - if left unchecked, the map can be overflowed with Wizards.

Their more powerful version, Necromancer, can also cast Summon Undead. Often a relatively weak Walking Corpse or a Skeleton will be summoned, but a Wraith or Wight can also be spawned and drain the player's abilities right away.

Despite the threat, more powerful characters can exploit the Wizards to generate great loot - a wizard can drop almost any non-unique item. Deliberately allowing them to clone themselves, can easily generate powerful enchanted equipment or rare items like Large Pack of Holding or Draught of Gain Level.

Undead
The world would be a simpler place if what was killed stayed dead. Alas, the gods have willed that it not always be so. Various creatures, whose rightful place is in the world beyond, still walk the plane of Midgard, much to the woe of those they meet. Some have been created by the work of evil priests and mages, others are the result of improper burials or tragic deaths, and some are minions from Hela's realm, which walk the earth seeking to cause pain and death.

Ghosts are the remains of people who died in great pain of some sort, not understanding why they suffered. Their anguish lives on as a ghost, which feeds on the pain and fear of the living. The sight of a ghost is enough to strike fear into the heart of those who face it, and the attack of a ghost is so terrifying as to drain the strength and dexterity of the victim. Ghosts have no body, and so are difficult to see and very difficult to hit with normal weapons. They also have the ability to pass through anything, so doors and even rock are no use in stopping their attacks.

Strategy: Ghosts deal no damage - instead they drain strength and dexterity. The attribute loss is temporary and will go back to normal with time. Nevertheless, you should monitor the stats, to not find yourself unable to move and escape from an unexpected enemy; or die from a fatally low stat. A defeated Ghost may drop a single random item. Note, that a Ghost may pass through walls, so destroying a Ghost while passing through the wall may get an item permanently stuck.

These creatures, of varying strength, are the incorporeal remains of evil humans cursed to walk the earth for a time beyond death, until some condition is fulfilled. Humans of great evil will become shades instead of shadows, and the greatest will become spectres. These creatures aren't especially strong or smart, but they remember being alive and have a strong hatred for those who still are. In battle they will typically animate some weapon, since they are intangible themselves. While this weapon is real and can be blocked, the creatures themselves are difficult to destroy with mortal weapons.

Strategy: Shadows start appearing early on in the Fortress. They are pretty tough, so first you may want to deplete their health with ranged attacks. Note, that they are immune to cold.

For skeletons, the bones of a long dead creature are reunited using enchanted sinews and given a gruesome second life. Mindless and soulless, they are used as terrifying guards or just let loose to harass mankind.

A freshly dead corpse, if not properly buried, may be taken by an evil wizard or priest to create a walking corpse. While slower than a skeleton, due to the rotting flesh that still clings to the bones, a walking corpse is harder to kill than a skeleton, for the flesh also provides some protection. Like a skeleton, a walking corpse has no memory of its former life, and exists only to destroy whatever it finds.

Strategy: Fighting both of these creatures is pretty straightforward. For an inexperienced hero they might prove too tough to fight in melee - it may be more reasonable to destroy them with Magic Arrows, since even if they do get close, the hero can easily outrun them. True to the game info, the Walking Corpse is sturdier than a Skeleton - it takes around 3 Magic Arrows to destroy one, while a Skeleton takes only 2.

Wights are the spirits that rise from improperly consecrated burials. There are several varieties of different strengths, including Tunnel, Barrow, and Castle Wights. Wights are occasionally mistaken for zombies at a distance, for they still have some corporeal body, but at close range their eyes burn with intelligence and hunger. The touch of a wight allows it to feed on the life essence of the victim, draining strength, constitution, and dexterity.

Wraiths are disembodied evil spirits, released from Hela's realm to plague the living. They roam the night hours, seeking pain and suffering among mankind, on which they can feed. If none can be found, they will drain the magical powers of men they encounter, or if that fails as well, drain the intelligence from their minds!

Strategy: Wraiths do not deal physical damage. Instead, they drain mana and intelligence, choosing randomly. They pass through walls and doors, so be aware of that in narrow hallways. It is best to dispatch them before they reach the player. Note, that there are three varieties of them (from the weakest to strongest: Pale Wraith, Dark Wraith and Abyss Wraith), all looking the same, so right click to identify them and plan the fight.

A Wraith can drop a random item - note that if a Wraith is destroyed while clipping through the wall, it can drop an item which the player will not be able to get.

One of the most feared of the undead is the blood sucking vampire. Unknown in the north until the rise of Surtur's influence in the land, these creatures recently have been sighted in growing numbers. Vampires feed on both the blood and life energy of their victims. It drains hit points in such a manner that the victim will not recover without the aid of special enchantment.

Jotuns (Giants)
Jotuns: the enormous manlike denizens of Jotunheim and associated realms, including Niflheim and Muspelheim. The smallest jotuns each stand over eight cubits tall, with near-human proportions, though tending toward short bowed legs. Most are cruel to smaller creatures; all are avaricious, and jealously guard their possessions from other creatures and each other, carrying as much on their person as is practical. Jotuns wear armor and wield weapons, all crafted to their great scale. They are fond of hurling boulders at their opponents, killing from a distance.

The different lands of Jotunheim have spawned different races of jotuns (commonly called Giants); these races coexist, but tend to avoid one another. Four of the jotun races are pictured below; other, rarer, varieties are certainly possible.

Hill Giants are the jotuns most commonly found on Midgard; fortunately, they are the smallest and weakest of all the jotun races, the most similar to humans. They wear enormous smocks of homespun, or leather armor when they can get it made in their size, and wield great wooden clubs. Very rarely an individual will show a talent for magic.

Stone Giants are jotuns which have lived in the great mountains of Midgard for ages. Taller and duller than Hill Giants, they are fairly reclusive as jotuns go, emerging from the impassable peaks at rare intervals for reasons known only to them. Little is known of their life in the mountains and crevasses of Jotunheim. They wield great clubs hewn of stone, and hurl especially large boulders with great accuracy. Stone Giants spurn armor, trusting their gray stony hides to protect them from harm.

Frost Giants are jotuns from the icy underworld of Niflheim, crossing into Midgard only during the deadliest winters; very rarely will they will remain, should they find a lonely glacier or ice cave. They are even taller than most giants, with weird pink or gray eyes and ulcerated, ivory-colored skin. Frost Giants wear enormous animal hides and chain-link or metal-scale armor, and wield huge axes, spears, and broadswords; rather than boulders, they hurl great blocks of ice.

Fire Giants are jotuns from the hot hells of Muspelheim. They are squat and huge, with disproportionately long arms, stumpy short legs, a broad barrel-like torso, and filthy, bristly black beards covering their broad, brick-colored faces. Fire Giants wear metal armor, forged in the heat of their hellish home, and carry huge swords and morningstars.

Other Creatures
In addition to the monsters listed above, the following are found in CoTW. These creatures have no better category, either due to their origin (such as the manticore), or because no one has quite discovered what it is (such as slime).

Another creation of wizardry run wild, this monster resembles a giant green cutworm, with a set of tentacles sprouting from its head. It roams the caves seeking carrion for food, but has no qualms about attacking a living creature if carrion is scarce. Its many attacks make it a feared opponent.

Strategy: It's individual hits don't do significant damage. But it can hit you up to 6 times in a single round and the damage does add up. By the time you encounter them in the mid-levels of the Fortress (levels 4-6), you should have the Fire Bolt spell. Cast one or two to weaken the Carrion Creeper and then finish it off in melee.

Gelatinous Glob: eerie subterranean scavenger, resembling nothing so much as an enormous lump of near-transparent aspic. Gelatinous Globs measure roughly seven cubits in each direction. Oozing slowly about, they surround any object, living or dead, that they encounter; organic objects they paralyze and digest, while inorganic objects they encase and retain, excreting them at rare intervals. Their strange structure, or perhaps their strange lack of structure, renders them immune to many forms of magical attack.

Strategy: those things are not very tough or hard hitting, especially by the time you encounter them (late in the Fortress). They can be dangerous though, since they can paralyze you, and kill you before the paralysis wears off. If you choose to take the Glob from range, it will take about 5 Magic Arrows. Fire Bolts are also effective, as just 2 leave it barely alive. It is, however, resistant to cold and immune to lightning. A Gelatinous Glob will take all items from a field it crosses - if it has travelled across the level for a long time, it can drop quite a loot. Additonally, it can drop a random item.

Manticore: monstrous guardian, originally created by sorcery. The manticore has the body and claws of a great lion, feathered vulture-like wings, the face of a cruel, bearded man, but with tusks in the wide mouth, and a long, rather insectile tail behind. The many-jointed tail is tipped with a pinecone of barbed quills, which it can fling with the accuracy and effect of a company of crossbowmen; with this, a manticore will try to slay lesser opponents at a distance, or cripple stronger opponents before closing with claws and jaws. Too, as a crossbowman can empty a case of quarrels, so can a manticore exhaust the spines on its tail, though it will usually cease fire before such exhaustion and so hazard a few quills against emergency. While manticores are intelligent, their bestial, angry nature overrides most subtlety. They talk, and will mock their prey during combat.

Strategy: Appearing regularly in the last levels of the Fortress and regularly in the Castle of the Winds, they will use their tail-spikes to attack you from a range. Up to 6 spikes can hit your character. A reasonably high CL (7+) is needed to handle a Manticore in melee combat. Otherwise, cast Slow Monster to reduce its rate of attack and cast some ranged spells or enter melee if you have a reasonable Armor Value (80+).

Slime: sessile, cancerous underground growth. In unclean places beneath the earth there grows a thick, gray-green, gluey stuff which clings in great sheets to walls, ceilings, and floors. Vibrations draw it; it is sufficiently motile to slop itself in the direction of felt motion. Where it touches flesh, it clings and grows, rapidly devouring the victim in a fit of fungal gluttony. Even a hit from a small blob of slime will burn and chew, and if left unchecked will eventually grow over the rest of the victim. All other creatures hate and fear slime. It is difficult to destroy without magical means.

Strategy: By difficult to destroy, they mean impossible. The slime is immune to physical attacks from your weapons. Instead you have no choice but to use magic. Two or three Magic Arrows (or one or two Cold Bolts) can kill the Slime. Luckily for you, Slime doesn't move. Hence it is only dangerous if you happen to be adjacent to it.

Additional Enemies
These enemies are not included in the game help file.

Bandits start appearing on lower levels of the first dungeons, and are some of the toughest enemies there. If using Magic Arrows is your usual strategy, expect them to shoot back at you. While their arrows don't hurt much, be prepared to take a few. A Bandits gets taken out by about 4 Magic Arrows. They stop being a threat later in the game, so wasting mana on them is no longer necessary. May drop Silver. You will start encountering Evil Warriors since the mid-levels of the Fortress, and they will keep appearing throughout the Castle of the Winds. By the time you encounter, them they will likely be a moderate threat at most. They can hit pretty hard - if you don't have reasonable armor value (70 or above) you should keep your distance. They may appear tanky if you shoot Magic Arrows at them (7-8), but they fall pretty quick to any stronger spell (5 Cold Bots, or 3-4 Fire Bolts). A defeated Evil Warrior may drop Silver.

Watch out for the more powerful variant of this enemy, a Berserker, who share the icon. They can attack multiple times per turn. This is likely the first of the beast people you will encounter - it starts appearing on lower mine levels. It is one of the tankier enemies in that dungeon - a clumsy hero may get killed before landing enough blows to take a Rat-Man down. It is quite slow, though, so depleting its health with Magic Arrow spell can be a better strategy at this point (takes about 5 Arrows to kill one). Rat-Man poses no threat at all later in the game, once stronger beast-men are introduced. It drops Copper. As you go deeper and deeper into the Fortress, you will start encountering this kind of enemy. It is significantly stronger than a Rat-Man, and may attack twice per turn. Reasonably high character level (~7) and armor rating (~70) is advised, if you plan on fighting it in melee. A defeated Wolf-Man may drop Silver. In Castle of the Winds 2, slaying a Wolf-Man is part of a secondary quest. Just like a Wolf-Man, Bear-Man starts appearing on lower Fortress levels. It can attack twice per turn. It has no magic resistances, so if it proves too tough, you can try taking it out with whatever spell you have - just note, that it can withstand 3 Cold Balls. A defeated Bear-Man may drop Silver. In Castle of the Winds 2, slaying a Bear-Man, with its pack of Bears, is part of a secondary quest. The Wooden Statues start appearing on mid-levels of the Fortress. Fighting them is straightforward - a character on level 7 should have no difficulties, but if they prove to be too tough, keep your distance and take them out with magic - just note, that the Wooden Statue is resistant to cold and lightning. Bronze statues are tougher than their wooden counterparts, and have different resistances - an Animated Bronze Statue is resistant to fire and cold.
 * Bull-Man
 * Animated Statues in iron and marble.
 * The Ochre Jelly Similar to the Gelatinous Glob, but more powerful.

Bosses
In addition to the regular monsters, several bosses exist.

He is the last opponent in Castle of the Winds 1. You will find him in a cross-shaped room, at the bottom, 11th level of the Fortress. He will be acompanied by a group of Ogres. You have to prepare for the battle, as attacking either Hrungnir or his guards will cause everyone in the room to attack.
 * Hrugnir, the Hill Giant Lord COTW Hrungnir Icon.png

Hrungnir behaves like a common Hill Giant - if you're away from him, he will throw boulders at you. His attacks can really hurt, so either have some healing prepared, or quickly take him out with powerful magic attacks - 6 Cold Balls or 5 Ball Lightings are enough to take him out. Despite having a ranged attack, Hrungnir is at disadvantage - his boulders are less accurate than your spells, so make sure you can outrun him and keep your distance. Once defeated, Hrungnir will drop several random items, as well as the goal of the game - the Amulet of Kings.

This fight occurs on level 4 of Castle of the Winds. There is no boss here - instead, the hero stumbles upon a rite of sacrifice, in which a pack of Huge Ogres (7-8 on Experts Only) are preparing to kill a prisoner. The event will trigger as soon as the player enters the level 4 and will cause a few messages to appear: After the last message, the prisoner disappears, and the event stops. The Ogres that have been stationary so far, start moving around. If you get to the prisoner before that, as you approach him you will get a pop-up window saying "Free me, please, noble one!", and if you come even closer, the prisoner will be freed and disappear after a story window opens.
 * Rescuing the prisoner
 * You hear somebody screaming for help!
 * You hear screams echoing through the halls!
 * You hear drums beating ominously!
 * The drums are beating faster!
 * You hear gutteral voices chanting!
 * You hear a voice scream 'Please! Somebody help me!'
 * You hear a voice scream 'No! Stop! The knife! Ahhhhh!'

Next time you're in town, visit the Jarl's palace. You will be rewarded will 100 pieces of Gold - they will be added to your bank account. Strategy: Freeing the Prisoner is an optional quest, but the reward may be worth a little effort. If you want to make sure to complete the quest, save your game before entering level 4 - if you fail the quest, either through your own mistakes, stumbling upon a sleep trap or generally by unlucky level generation, you will be able to restore the game. Also, make sure to be at full health and mana. IF your character was having hard time up to this point, prepare some health and mana restoring items. Cast detect monsters right before descending - this way you will be able to tell, where the Ogres and the Prisoner are (the Prisoner is sensed with Detect Monsters too). You can also use a Scroll of Map Level - this way you will see all passages and traps between you and your destination point. The place you're looking for is a large room with an altar in the middle.

The event will start as soon as you enter the level - you will get the first message on the next minute change, then every 10 minutes you will get another message. The last message appears a minute after the previous one. In total, you have 51 minutes with a few seconds to free the Prisoner. If you leave the level, the event will continue, but will not be getting any messages while you're away.

If you know where you're going, the time you have should be more than enough, but avoid resting or sleeping. Once you're in the room, besides the Ogres, you need to take out every enemy your character can see, including those in far away rooms, if the enemies happen to be in the line of sight.

Take care not to kill the Prisoner by accident. When you use Cold Ball, or other large area spells, make sure the Prisoner is not be hit by any of these. Just one brush from a Fireball can finish him off, while Cold Ball and Ball Lightning take two misplaced shots. The freeing event will not trigger, until all enemies in sight are defeated - instead, if you walk on the Prisoner's tile, you will hit him in melee. Note that, if you kill him, there is no message informing you that he's dead. He's only considered free, if you get the story window on approach.

Note that, even if there are no enemies nearby, the rite will continue, and the Prisoner can still die. The game treats the Prisoner as an enemy - he is sensed with Detect Monsters spell, and if he is in your line of sight, you will be unable to rest and inventory actions will give you "You see a monster!" pop-up. He has no resistances, besides being immune to Transmogrify Monster. You get no experience points for killing him.


 * Deep within the Castle: Utgardhalok, the Hill Giant King, with his Hill Giant minions
 * Further in the Castle: Rungir, the Stone Giant King, with his Stone Giant minions
 * Yet further in the Castle: Thyrm, the Ice Giant King, with his Ice Giant minions
 * Near the bottom of the Castle: Thiassa, the Fire Giant King, with his Fire Giant minions
 * At the bottom of the Castle: Surtur, the Demon Lord, with his devil minions