Mire of the Damned

The Mire of the Damned is a swampy, undead-haunted region whose only settlement is the village of Darkmoor. Skeletons, ghosts and harpies roam the outdoors freely (walking around the region literally releases monsters), and the area resets quickly — about every six months — so a standing Lloyd’s Beacon here is well worth keeping. Despite the grim theme its open-world efficiency is rated easy; the danger lives in its three dungeons.

You first sweep through on the Grand Tour (Stage 8): collect the Mire’s two side quests, fix the Darkmoor stable price, read the obelisk, and plant a beacon. You come back to clear Snergle’s Iron Mines in Stage 9, to slay the dragon Longfang Witherhide in the Dragon’s Lair during the promotion finale (Stage 10), to place a statuette and touch Obelisk #9 in Stage 11, and finally to crack Castle Darkmoor — the game’s second-hardest dungeon — for Memory Crystal Delta in Stage 13.

πŸ—Ί Internals (from game scripts)

Keys

  • Wolf Statuette β†’ a door
  • Eagle Statuette β†’ a door

Ambushes

  • event 210: monsters

Connections

  • β†’ Snergle's Iron Mines
  • β†’ Castle Darkmoor
  • β†’ Dragon's Lair

Visit in: Stage 8 Β· Stage 9 Β· Stage 10 Β· Stage 11 Β· Stage 13

Quests

Kill Snergle

[stage]

Giver: Avinril Smithers (the dwarf king) in the inn (The Haunt / Rusty Shield Inn), Darkmoor

The dwarf king asks you to find and kill Snergle, usurper of the dwarven throne. It is a two-dungeon relay: clear Snergle’s Iron Mines here in the Mire to free a captured dwarf for the Chambers/Room Key, then cross to Snergle’s Caverns near Castle Ironfist to kill Snergle and take his body for Snergle’s Axe. Showing the axe to Smithers completes the quest and unlocks Master Axe training (you must already be Expert in Axe).

Destroy the Book of Liches

[stage]

Giver: Terry Ros (on the raised walkways; he has two houses due to a known game bug), Darkmoor

Terry Ros wants the Book of Liches destroyed. The book sits deep inside Castle Darkmoor, the second-hardest dungeon in the game, reached through its switch/blue-cube puzzle — so this waits until you are a high-level party in the memory-crystal stage. Click the book to destroy it, then report back to Terry Ros for 5,000 gold and experience.

Recover Memory Crystal Delta

[stage]

Giver: The Oracle (Free Haven High Council) — one of four crystals it demands

The Oracle sends you to recover Memory Crystal Delta from deep inside Castle Darkmoor. Seating it (along with Alpha, Beta and Epsilon) in the Oracle’s corridors pays 100,000 experience per crystal. Tackle Darkmoor last of the four — it is the deadliest of the crystal dungeons.

Retrieve the Dragon Claw (Hero promotion)

[stage]

Giver: Regent Wilbur Humphrey (Castle Ironfist) — the Crusader→Hero promotion quest; the Dragon Claw is taken from the Mire's Dragon's Lair

The Crusader-track Hero promotion needs the Dragon Claw, carried by Longfang Witherhide, a Red Dragon in the Mire’s Dragon’s Lair (a single-room cave just north of Castle Darkmoor). Kill the dragon, take the claw, then return to Regent Wilbur Humphrey at Castle Ironfist to promote your Crusaders to Hero.

Place a statuette (Twillen)

[stage]

Giver: Twillen (Blackshire) — one of five pedestals; the Mire's is on the south part of the island

One of Twillen’s five statuettes goes on the pedestal on the south part of the Mire’s island. You typically plant this one on the Grand Tour and finish the set (Bootleg Bay, Mire, Kreigspire, Dragonsand, Sweet Water) for a large experience bonus and a reward chest back in Blackshire.

Fix the Darkmoor stable price

[stage]

Giver: Lady Loretta Fleise (Silver Cove) — 'Fix the prices of all stables' council quest

Darkmoor is one of the nine stables in Fleise’s council quest. Click "Price Fixing" with the Darkmoor stable owner in the south of town as you pass through, and grab the stable’s horseshoe (+2 skill points) while you are there.

Dungeons

πŸ—Ί Snergle's Iron Mines medium

When: now (Stage 9 – the first half of the Kill Snergle quest) [cleared in stage]

Free the imprisoned dwarf for Snergle's Room/Chambers Key. Oozes are immune to physical, poison and magic direct hits β€” only Fireball or magic-damage weapons clear them; Devil Spawn here are Fire-immune. Two limited pools inside: left restores Spell Points, right restores Hit Points. Library shelves hold free spell books.

πŸ—Ί Internals (from game scripts)

Rewards

  • Key to Snergle's Chambers
  • Torch Light
  • Flame Arrow
  • Protection from Fire
  • Wizard Eye
  • Static Charge
  • Protection from Elec
  • Awaken
  • Cold Beam
  • Protection from Cold
  • Cure Weakness
  • First Aid
  • Protection from Poison
  • Remove Curse

Keys

  • Cell Key β†’ door 2

Ambushes

  • Cabinet: monsters

Traps

  • Door: DamagePlayer

Connections

  • β†’ Mire of the Damned
πŸ—Ί Dragon's Lair (Longfang Witherhide) medium

When: later (Stage 10 – the Crusader β†’ Hero promotion) [cleared in stage]

A single-room cave just north of Castle Darkmoor holding the Red Dragon Longfang Witherhide (~880–900 HP, Fire-immune). Use arrows and non-fire damage, breaking line of sight in the doorway. Take the Dragon Claw for the Hero promotion.

πŸ—Ί Castle Darkmoor very hard

When: later (Stage 13 – Memory Crystal Delta + Book of Liches) [cleared in stage]

The game's second-deadliest dungeon (after the Tomb of Varn). A three-switch / blue-cube puzzle guarded by Ogres, Greater/Power Liches (Magic-immune) and brutal floating Eyes (Sleep, Dispel Magic, Fear, Insanity). Holds Memory Crystal Delta, the Lich King, and the Book of Liches. Save it for a high-level party.

πŸ—Ί Internals (from game scripts)

Rewards

  • Memory Crystal Delta
  • treasure-tier-6 Helm
  • treasure-tier-6 Boots
  • treasure-tier-6 Belt

Keys

  • Memory Crystal Delta β†’ a door

Ambushes

  • event 26: monsters
  • event 47: monsters
  • event 48: monsters
  • event 49: monsters
  • event 50: monsters
  • event 51: monsters
  • event 52: monsters

Traps

  • event 2: Toxic Cloud
  • event 3: Ice Blast
  • event 19: Fireball
  • Door : Toxic Cloud
  • event 21: Ice Bolt
  • event 22: Ice Bolt
  • event 23: Fireball
  • event 24: Fireball
  • event 25: Fireball
  • event 27: Fireball
  • event 46: Fireball

Connections

  • β†’ Mire of the Damned
Puzzle solution

Castle Darkmoor's lava pools are a "follow the embers" crossing puzzle. Signs warn "The fires of the dead shall burn forever" and "The crimson embers will lead the way." Each glowing-lava strip is actually toggled to safe, walkable water by a nearby Lever or Sign β€” and the floor only lets you cross once its switch is set.

  1. Throw/touch the Lever and the two crimson Signs before each pool β€” this flips that lava strip to passable water (and opens the matching door).
  2. Cross only on a strip whose switch is active; stepping on an unset pool teleports you back.
  3. Touch the Podium to destroy the Book of Liches (objective).

Trainers

Darkmoor (Mire of the Damned)

Experts: Mace and Axe (1st house S. of the 'Mailed Fist' Armory), Merchant. Masters: Chain (N. of the village stables), Perception (bottom of the stairs in the stone building on the E. side), Spear (L-shaped alcove in the wooden building, NE corner), and Axe (Avinril Smithers in the Rusty Shield Inn offers the Snergle quest; available after killing Snergle).

Trains: mace (expert), axe (expert), merchant (expert), chain (master), perception (master), spear (master), axe (master)

NPCs & Shops

Darkmoor is the Mire’s only town. The inn, The Haunt (also called the Rusty Shield Inn) is the northernmost building with its door facing north; inside, Avinril Smithers, the dwarf king, gives the Kill Snergle quest and later teaches Master Axe. Terry Ros (Destroy the Book of Liches) lives on the raised walkways and, due to a known game bug, occupies two houses — talk to the right one.

Notable fixtures: a permanent +2 Endurance fountain; the Shrine of Speed (active in June — ask the Seer in Castle Ironfist for the date); Obelisk #9 (part of the 15-obelisk treasure quest); a statuette pedestal on the south of the island; and a Circus that visits August–November (Nicolai appears here if you are running that quest). The town has a weapon store, two armor stores’ worth of gear, an alchemist, an inn and coach travel (to Free Haven, Monday/Friday, 5 days, 250gp). The Temple of Baa in the region is one of the area’s special buildings.

Secrets

Show spoiler β€” Castle Darkmoor cube puzzle & the Book of Liches

Castle Darkmoor is a three-switch / blue-cube puzzle. Pull the first lever after the south sign; cross the Jump gap to the second sign and pull its switch to arm a second cube; then cast Telekinesis on the blue cube in the large room (“The way has been cleared”) to open the path to Memory Crystal Delta in the northwest alcove. With Delta in hand, turn to the nearby blue cube, click the wall plaque, then click the now-red cube (or double-click the hanging column) to teleport to the Book of Liches room. Click the book to destroy it for Terry Ros’s quest. The three corpses there drop excellent loot (e.g. Ultimate boots), but looting them is a heavy reputation hit — skip it if you are protecting Saintly status. Click the red cube again to teleport back out.

Show spoiler β€” Snergle's Iron Mines: the Cell Key and the locked doors

Some doors here are opened by attributes, not keys: the door past the first big room wants a caster with high Intellect to open it. The Cell Key sits in a chest guarded by higher-ranked dwarves at the end of the southern path. Carry it to the cell in the first room on the right near the back of the mine and use it on the cell door; the imprisoned dwarf inside hands you Snergle’s Room (Chambers) Key — the only thing you actually need from this dungeon. (The Orders From Snergle scroll you can find is useless.)

Combat

βš” What to clear / skip

βœ… Clear

  • Loose Skeletons / Skeleton Knights / Skeleton Lords (low HP; Poison- and Magic-immune, so hit them physically) β€” easy XP that clears your fly-in landing zone
  • Loose Ghosts (35 HP, Afraid special) and weaker undead near Darkmoor β€” cheap XP while you fix the stable and bank quests
  • Dwarves / Dwarf Warriors / Dwarf Lords in Snergle's Iron Mines β€” high elemental/magic resistance but NO physical immunity, so farm them with bows and melee; pull a couple at a time through doorways
  • Oozes in the Iron Mines β€” only with Fireball or magic-damage weapons (immune to Physical/Poison/Magic direct hits); they block the route to the Cell Key
  • Longfang Witherhide (Red Dragon, ~880–900 HP, Fire-immune) in the Dragon's Lair β€” required for the Dragon Claw; use arrows/non-fire and break line of sight on his breath
  • Ogres and reachable Liches in Castle Darkmoor β€” clear from doorways so they don't pile on the Crystal Delta grab (Liches are Magic-immune: use weapons/arrows)