Dwarftown is an important milestone in the game. It is a source of numerous helpful NPCs and locations, including a shop, a smithy, a coaligned altar (for non-chaotics) and a training hall where stats may be increased. Of equal importance is the fact that it is a resting place. After the descent through the upper CoC, the PC can rest here without constantly being assaulted by monsters. There is nothing hostile in Dwarftown initially, with the exception of an almost-guaranteed mimic in Waldenbrook's shop (note the empty space in the shop in the map below - it is a mimic).
A map of Dwarftown:
#######################################################################
#.....................................................................#
###########......................##########.............................###
#..#(*?[((#.Waldenbrook's........#........#..........#######..............#
###..#!("[."#....shop......#####...#.Garth's#..........#.....#..............###
#....#%[?/*]#..............#..!#.../Training#..........#...../.Glod's.........#
##....#%!%%['#..............#...#...#..Hall..#..........#..&..#.smithy.........#
#.....#%!%\\*#..............#...#...#........#..........#.....#................#
#.....##/#####..............###/#...##########..........#.....#................#
#.......................Thrundarr's.....................#######................#
#...<......................room.............................................>..#
#..............................................................................#
#.Ruun's.###/###.......####........................######/##...................#
##.altar.#.....#.......#..#.Dwarven................#.......#...................#
#..room.#.....#.......#..#.Mystic's...............#.Green.#...................#
###.....#.._..#.......####..Room..................#Griffon#.................###
#.....#.....#...........................>.......#..Inn..#.................#
###...#######....................Stairway.to....#########...............###
#...............................Ogre.cave.............................#
#######################################################################
2.5.1 WaldenbrookWaldenbrook is the shopkeeper in Dwarftown. His is a general store type of shop selling and buying a variety of goods. He occasionally stocks an item or two of high quality, sometimes even an artifact. His prices are generally reasonable. Bear in mind, however, that he has the same racial prejudices as all other shopkeepers (see section 0.13.7).
2.5.2 Ruun
Ruun, the Priest in Dwarftown is always generated with the same race as the PC. He presides over a small room containing an altar, which will be coaligned unless the PC is chaotic. If a coaligned PC is carrying unidentified potions, it is worth 'C'hatting with him. He will identify potions that have a healing effect: potions of (extra/ultra) healing and potions of cure poison. If a PC whose alignment does not match the altar's 'C'hats with him he responds with "Ye oughta convert. Then we'll talk."
Donating gold to Ruun moves the PC's alignment closer to that of the altar.
Note that converting the altar in Dwarftown (perhaps even attempting to convert it) will cause Ruun to become hostile, which in turn causes the entire town to become hostile. Luring him out of Dwarftown, killing him and then returning will not work either, as his shade returns to inform the dwarves of what has happened, resulting in the same scenario. Unless your PC knows exactly what he is doing and why he is doing it, angering or attacking Ruun is highly inadvisable. See also section 2.5.8 below about the Demented Ratling and causing commotion in Dwarftown.
The stubborn singlemindedness of the Dwarves regarding Ruun has an interesting side effect. If a pet, slave or the greater daemon, for instance, kills Ruun the entire town including Thrundarr (but not Waldenbrook) will pursue that creature. This is another way to get Thrundarr off his lever.
Thrundarr is the village elder. He can provide background information on a variety of subjects, none of which is really crucial to completing the game. He assigns six lawful quests regardless of alignment. They are listed in the next section.
2.5.3.1 Thrundarr's quests, their rewards and the significance of the rewards
Several quests are available from Thrundarr once the PC achieves experience level six. Talking to Thrundarr about 'quest' provides access to them:
The first five quests are available in this order:
1) Slay a random monster. This can be a very annoying quest. The assigned monster is supposedly dependent on the PC's experience level. The reward is having the PC's entire inventory identified or the (artifact) potion of literacy for illiterate characters.
2) Find out what is beyond the animated forest. The PC has two choices here: traverse the animated forest or bypass it and descend through the Dwarven Halls. See section 2.5.3.1.1 below about these locations. The reward for this quest is a blessed wand of fireballs with twelve charges. This comes in very handy in the Pyramid (see section 2.9).
WARNING:
Be very careful when wandering around below Dwarftown before receiving this quest. Entering the Animated Forest for even a single turn before the quest is assigned results in Thrundarr refusing to assign it, instead assigning another random monster quest with no reward. Since the wand of fireballs (blessed with twelve charges, no less) can be very useful, entering the Animated Forest before the quest is assigned is very unwise. Note that this does not occur if the PC enters, or descends below, the Dwarven Halls.
3) Kill the ogre tribe below Dwarftown - the staircase to this level is generated between the Dwarven Mystic's room and the Green Griffon Inn. See section 2.5.3.1.2 below about this quest. The reward is 5000 gold pieces, useful for training with Garth (see section 2.5.5).
4) Become the Champion of the Arena - if the PC is already the Champion of the Arena, another random monster quest is assigned - a very good reason not to become the Champion until this quest is assigned. Instead of a cash reward, the PC is given an artifact sword, the Golden Gladius, for winning the 20th Arena fight. Thrundarr's rewards for this quest are usually pieces of equipment which vary according to the class of the PC and possibly the RNG. A couple of examples:
A mindcrafter (probably) received:
| blessed mithril cap [+0, +2] | [40s] | |
| blessed adamantium chain mail (-1, -3) [-1, +8] | [288s] | |
| blessed mithril girdle [+0, +2] | [20s] | |
| blessed adamantium long sword (+0, 1d8+5) | [28s] | |
| blessed medium mithril shield [+5, +1] | [80s] | |
| blessed ring of fire resistance | [1s] | |
| blessed adamantium boots [+0, +3] | [89s] |
A wizard and a beastfighter both received:
| heap of 8 blessed bandages | [16s] | |
| blessed waterproof blanket | [10s] | |
| blessed fireproof blanket | [10s] | |
| blessed ring of fire resistance | [1s] | |
| heap of 5 uncursed potions of extra healing | [10s] | |
| uncursed potion of gain attributes | [4s] | |
| uncursed potion of ultra healing | [2s] | |
| blessed scroll of familiar summoning | [2s] |
The bandages, blankets, etc. seem to be the most common set of equipment received as a reward for this quest.
These are nice enough, but of no great consequence in the context of the whole game. Of greater importance is the fact that the PC now has the Golden Gladius. It can be exchanged for training with Bart the grizzled gladiator. See section 2.5.7.1 below.
It is also possible under some circumstances to receive the artifact dwarven shield "Rolf's Saviour" as a reward for this quest. Lawful alignment is probably a requirement along with cooperation from the RNG.
5) Slay a greater daemon that has been terrorizing Dwarftown. The daemon can be a difficult opponent, particularly if it becomes entangled with the dwarves in the city. Bear in mind the fact that the greater daemon can kill NPCs who may be helpful later. This includes the demented ratling, which destroys the possibility of any special ending. The greater daemon breathes fire and is a stat drainer. It can be sacrificed on the altar in Dwarftown. If the PC is lucky enough to have found demon slaying ammo, use it! There will be more found later. The reward for this quest is the artifact mace Big Punch, which many PCs find useless because it is so heavy - 800 stones. It is potential sacrificial fodder.
Thrundarr's sixth quest, available at any time and often taken out of order by many players, is to free the spirit of Griff Bloodax, a dwarven hero who has been turned into an undead dwarven chaos berserker by the master necromancer Nonnak. It is necessary to ask him about 'portal' to obtain this quest. In return for completing this quest, Thrundarr provides some equipment rewards (see section 2.7) and more importantly opens the dwarven portal leading to the deeper CoC. Note that it is not strictly necessary to do this quest. Thrundarr stands on a lever that controls the portal. If he is removed from that location, the PC can 'h'andle the lever himself. Methods for accomplishing this include teleporting Thrundarr, confusing him and killing him.
Thrundarr is teleportation resistant, thus using charges from a wand of teleportation is not recommended unless there is no alternative. A PC with the Teleportation spell has no problem. Teleporting him causes no alignment drop; Thrundarr does not become hostile and he will still assign quests. Killing him is a rather drastic act with all sorts of negative consequences. Using ventriloquism on him is fairly easy, confuses him and causes him to wander off the lever. It causes an alignment drop roughly equivalent to killing him but does not curse or doom the PC nor are muscular dwarves summoned. It does make Thrundarr hostile after he recovers from his confusion. This causes an amusing scenario as the non-hostile dwarves encounter a hostile Thrundarr wandering around Dwarftown chasing the PC.
Drakeling spit will also cause him to move from the lever without negative consequences. This is presumably a bug.
The PC should actually do the quest unless there is a very specific reason not to do so, since there are very useful artifacts generated during the quest. See section 2.7 for more about this quest.
2.5.3.1.1 The Animated Forest and the Dwarven Halls
Thrundarr asks the PC to pass through the Animated Forest and find out what lies beyond. He also mentions a possibly dangerous shortcut which turn out to be the Dwarven Halls DH: 1 and DH: 2. On approximately D: 15 there will be a level that has two down staircases. One leads to the Animated Forest, the other to the Dwarven Halls. It is impossible to tell them apart.
Passing through the Animated Forest is a test of one's patience among other things. The entire level is filled with living trees milling about. The majority are not hostile but will of course become hostile if attacked. It is difficult to get through them without accidentally hitting one or more. When the PC encounters hostile trees it is best not to try to fight them but rather keep moving. In fact it is usually best to be as defensive as possible and forget about offense completely: wield two shields and use Coward tactics. The hostile trees will usually be left behind in the crowd. It seems to be best to keep moving in any case and refrain from resting on one square. Invisibility is a tremendous asset in the Animated Forest, but PCs usually do not have it available at this stage of the game. Note that fireballs, from the wand or spell, as well as the Burning Hands spell, should not be used in the Animated Forest. While they are effective, the whole forest becomes hostile. This generates too many hostile trees for a PC at this level to cope with. Interestingly, fire bolts, from the spell or wand, are also effective, but do not cause the forest to become hostile. The trees do not see in Darkness, so that tactic can also be used.
The alternative to the tedium of the Animated Forest is a descent through the Dwarven Halls. This is much faster but potentially dangerous. Very out-of-depth monsters can be generated in the Dwarven Halls. If the PC has invisibility, seven league boots or anything that increases speed, wear them before entering in case it becomes necessary to flee. Exploring other than finding the down stairways is highly inadvisable.
Both of these locations can be problematic. The Animated Forest is always incredibly tedious. The Dwarven Halls can be a cakewalk if the PC is lucky enough to have the stairways generated close together. They can also be a virtual instadeath if a very nasty monster shows up. As Thrundarr says, "It's yer choice."
2.5.3.1.2 The Ogre Cave
There is an ogre tribe below Dwarftown which Thrundarr asks the PC to eliminate. This quest is relatively easy compared to getting through the Animated Forest or Dwarven Halls. The ordinary ogres have no special attacks and the PC should be able to bash them with brute force combined with missile attacks or blast them with magic. Weaker races might find a corpse or two that grants a strength increase. Bringing a PC to a starvation state will lower strength, so that the chance of a strength increase is improved. A potential problem is the ogre magi present on the level. They are capable of becoming invisible and casting Frost Bolt. PCs who have no cold resistance need to watch out for them. Wear an amulet of the cold heart if the PC has one. There are also a couple of ogre lords present, which are tougher than the ordinary ogres. None of the ogres can see in Darkness. There is a bug in the game which prevents pets from inflicting any damage on the level. Do not rely on them.
2.5.4 The Dwarven Mystic
The Dwarven Mystic is found in a 2 × 2 sealed room east of the room containing the altar. The most common way to get in is by teleporting. The Dwarven Mystic used to be a guaranteed source of the artifact dwarven rune axe Rolf's Companion for non-chaotics. Neutrals never receive the axe but rather some items which vary. It can be four scrolls of chaos resistance and/or seven blessed potions of insight, potions of extra healing or other equipment. Several gammas ago, Rolf's Companion was a very powerful artifact. Recently, it has been weakened to the point that many players regard the possibility of getting four scrolls of chaos resistance from the Dwarven Mystic as an argument for neutral alignment at this point in the game. Chaotics will receive nothing from him. He responds with the message "It wasn't you I've been waiting for!"
Note that teleportation traps may be conveniently generated adjacent to and within the dwarven mystic's room. However, this is only possible if Dwarftown is generated on D: 11:
.....^ .####. .#.^#. .#^.#. .####. ^.....The carets represent locations where a teleportation trap may be created.
It is also possible to open the walls of the Dwarven Mystic's room with a wand of destruction. This is somewhat dangerous, since nearby townspeople, and perhaps the Dwarven Mystic himself, may be damaged by the blast, causing some, or all, inhabitants of Dwarftown to become hostile. If the player is careful, it is possible to destroy the walls, 'C'hat with the Dwarven Mystic and receive his rewards in the usual manner.
If a PC with non-chaotic alignment has committed a crime in Dwarftown which results in an alarm gong being rung and muscular dwarves being summoned, the Dwarven Mystic responds with a different message "Ye art doomed!" This does not result in the PC gaining the cursed or doomed intrinsics. A wished-for Dwarven Mystic also always responds with this message.
2.5.5 Garth and Training
Garth is the dwarven weaponmaster found in the training hall east of Thrundarr's room. Garth will train all stats except Appearance and Mana. The formula for how much to pay is $100 × stat value, doubled once for each 5 points over 15. Here are examples of what to pay Garth:
| Stat score | Payment |
|---|---|
| 1-15 | 100 - 1500gp (100x) |
| 16-20 | 3200 - 4000gp (200x) |
| 21-25 | 8400 - 10000gp (400x) |
| 26-30 | 20800 - 24000gp (800x) |
| 31-35 | 49600 - 56000gp (1600x) |
| 36-40 | 115200 - 128000gp (3200x) |
| 41-45 | 262400 - 288000gp (6400x) |
| 46-50 | 588800 - 640000gp (12800x) |
Note that the effects of training do not happen instantaneously. The stat has simply been trained. The game checks every so often (and always when gaining an experience level) to see if a stat is eligible for an increase. This is when the stat will rise. Note also that it is possible to pay Garth once and receive several stat increases as a result. This is particularly useful for those PC's with a very low stat score in one or more categories. Paying Garth well in excess of the amount needed to raise the stat will result in multiple stat increases over time.
Note that there is a manual entry under the Attributes section that states the following:
"The potential maximum attribute scores are based on the initial attribute scores. The maximum for an attribute is dependent on the base score and the player race. These maximums can only rarely be surpassed by natural training. This is a long and arduous process. Only magical methods can exceed these limits with ease."
This seems to imply that Garth cannot train a stat beyond its natural maximum. This may be true under "reasonable" circumstances. Giving Garth massive amounts of gold may be a different story.
2.5.6 Glod and Smithing
Glod, the dwarven smith in Dwarftown, will teach the Smithing skill. There is a price for this which seems to depend on Charisma, Appearance or both. The base price seems to vary from as low as 800 to as high as 30000 gold pieces, and seems to be heavily influenced by race.
Glod is also capable of removing rust from rusted items and fixing certain broken items, notably pickaxes, again, for a price. It has been reported that after removing rust from an item a number of times, Glod will offer to rustproof the item.
After learning the Smithing skill, Glod will make his equipment available to the PC for a price, typically 2500 gold pieces.
It is possible to teleport Glod away from his smithy, although the details (wand of teleportation vs the Teleportation spell) have yet to be worked out. He wanders in Dwarftown but still asks for the nominal 2500 gold piece fee (seemingly telepathically, probably a bug) after this. However, at this point, he can be lured off the level if he is adjacent to a staircase, like any other inhabitant of Dwarftown. After Glod is left on another level, his demands for payment cease. Note that this may involve considerable tedium as the PC attempts to lure Glod off the level.
It is possible to kill Glod (using acid spit or bolt spells while invisible, for instance) without making the rest of Dwarftown hostile (although Waldenbrook may become hostile), thus making his smithy available for free. One method of doing this involves using the greater daemon generated by Thrundarr's fifth quest. If the greater daemon is lured near Glod, it will kill Glod.
2.5.7 The Green Griffon Inn
The Green Griffon Inn holds two useful NPCs described below. It is located in the southeast corner of Dwarftown.
2.5.7.1 Bart
Bart provides teaching in three skills: Backstabbing, Tactics and Two Weapon Combat in exchange for the Golden Gladius, the artifact sword provided as a reward for winning the 20th Arena fight. Tactics is available only from him. He also provides some training in weapon skills, raising all zero level skills to level one and providing small bonuses to other weapon skils. The number of weapon marks that he gives seems to be (learning score)d10. The training in weapon skills is secondary as compared to granting the Tactics skill, which is of much greater importance in the game.
2.5.7.2 Torgall
Torgall is the innkeeper in the Green Griffon Inn. He is a source of rumors, for the price of an ale.
2.5.8 The Demented Ratling
The Demented Ratling is an important NPC for all PCs trying for a special ending. He demands to be fed six artifacts in exchange for revealing the secret of the Stone Circle, where the Crown of Chaos can be found. He will only talk to chaotic PCs. He becomes much more powerful each time he is fed an artifact. This is important to remember. If the PC is going to cause commotion in Dwarftown, for example in order to fulfill Kherab's second quest, it should only be done after feeding a number of artifacts to the demented ratling. Otherwise the demented ratling may be killed in the ensuing battle for control of Dwarftown.
A wished-for demented ratling will make the usual demand for six artifacts from a chaotic PC, but will not eat an artifact. Instead, he responds with "Ya naw will neeta die!" He is not necessarily hostile after this.
It is possible to anger the demented ratling to the point where he will attack by swapping places with him several times. Repeatedly (about five times) talking to him after giving him artifacts will also make him hostile.