Stage 9: The Snergle Two-Step: Iron Mines (Mire) -> Caverns (Ironfist)

Goal: reach the prison cell and free the captured dwarf for Snergle’s Room Key (a.k.a. Snergle’s Chambers Key). Everything else is optional loot.

Just inside, note the two limited-use pools: the pool on the left restores Spell Points and the pool on the right restores Hit Points — both run dry after a number of uses, so tap them only when you actually need them. The hallway to the right is full of Oozes, which are immune to physical hits; clear them with area magic (Fireball catches several at once) or a weapon that deals magical damage.

Go left into the big room and walk around to wake the sleeping dwarves, then hit them through the closed door a couple at a time so they cannot all swarm you. Open up, mop up survivors, and head right and up the stairs. The next door wants brains, not a key: have a caster with high Intellect open it. Inside, search the shelves of the library for free spell books, then push on up the hall through a room of Dwarf Lords and oozes. South of there are Dwarf Warriors and scattered treasure; at the end of that path sit higher-ranked dwarves guarding a pile of gold and a chest holding the Cell Key. Backtrack to the cavern start and clean up any dwarves and devil spawn that wandered into the big room.

Now work the oozing hallway: the first left is packed with oozes (food sacks line the walls), then a room of gold sacks leads to a chamber of dwarves, devil spawns and a couple of oozes with two long cabinets of gold. Back at the main hall, take the branching path — all four side rooms hold dwarves and three openable cabinets. At the double doors, wake the dwarves and hit them through the doors again, then take the secret path east (three devil spawns, four chests of mediocre loot including a useless Orders From Snergle scroll). Finally wind north along the path past more oozes to a door that opens on its own into a dwarf-and-devil ambush. The first room on the right has the cell — use the Cell Key on the door and the imprisoned dwarf inside hands you Snergle’s Room Key. That is all you need here; the far room’s cabinet is empty, so leave.

Goal: kill Snergle and take his body for Snergle’s Axe.

After setting your beacon, head around the corner past some lower dwarves and through the tunnels. Save the game at every gold vein — mining them can trigger a cave-in, and a save lets you reload if one buries you. Past three veins you meet Dwarf Lords; keep going to a room with a few dozen bats and a pack of dwarves who sit below a ledge, where you can shoot them safely from above. When the room is clear, check the waterfall for an item and the crystals to see if they yield gems, then go west and clear the bats from three corridors. Click the bones for poison resistance, then return to the crystal room and head north through more dwarves; check the gem and gold veins along the way. Continue past more bats and dwarves — but do not drink the black liquid in the barrels — and ride the elevator up.

Upstairs is another crowd of dwarves and bats. A clean trick: let them spot you, ride the elevator back down, and pick them off with arrows from below in turn-based mode. Clear the room, check the crystals, and push the white switch to open a western door. Loot and bats lie beyond; head north, clear more bats, and check the veins. Now you reach the final locked door — switch to turn-based, open it, and a swarm of dwarves erupts everywhere. Recall your beacon to bounce back to the entrance and out of the mess, then fight your way back through; the room is so packed the battle takes a while. When the dust settles, take Snergle’s body to claim Snergle’s Axe, grab the chest, and hit the switch on the chair to open one more room (a few bats, one set of bones giving +5 Might, and another set that warps you back to the entrance when you are ready to leave).