Technical Space[]
-Hedon OST- Akhzul - Industro
Technical Space is the fourth level in Hedon featuring the main area of operation for the Fixer caste as well as a part of the territory belonging to the Cave Minotaurs. Here is where Crystals meet metal, and through the craftsmanship of the Goblins become the technology of the Iron Division. It is also a place where Dwarven blacksmiths and Minotaur miners can come along to trade with the Orcs. The Forge also contains a portal which allows quick travel to the Grove and Lower Valc.
The local environment is consistently hot and dry, surrounded by lava pools and formations of Red Crystals. The fauna is rather unusual, being composed from magic automations known as Forge Elementals and Iron Urchins.
The area is split between the Forge Facilities and the surrounding Caverns.
Forge Facilities[]
The Forge hosts an array of facilities, including both technical spaces as well as production and processing areas.
The pumping station providing almost every area of Valc with heated, clean water.
Pumping Station[]
The Pumping Station is the main area where Valc's water supply is processed and sent to various locations of the town. The area is usually always populated by several Fixers who keep the pumps under watch and make sure that the equipment stays in good condition.
Whenever a pipe breaks or clogs, the Fixers call the aid of the Forge Elementals and their Iron Urchin drones to help them fix. This was until Demons corrupted the Elementals, handing their allegiance to the Cultists, thus causing massive casualties to the Iron Division, both out in the Campaign and back at home. The player can read about this sudden shift of behavior in a note written by the Forge Elemental Herder.
Reaver Tiati is locked by the Cultists in the Portal chamber, later forcing her to communicate with Zan through a message on the reinforced glass.
Forge Portal[]
Using intricate crystal powered contraptions, the Fixers have designed a series of portals meant to allow quick travel between important areas of town. The portals require a considerable time to power up but are very useful to transport the heavier goods produced in the Forge.
This is where Zan gets to first meet with a survivor, Reaver Tiati, but she ends up being too late to take the portal, which powers down, forcing the Goblin to leave the Halfblood behind. If the player uses the noclip console command while the portal is still up, they can actually take it, ending up in Lower Valc.
The large corridor leads at one end to the Barracks' Storage hangar, while the other end opens up into the Great Forge.
The Great Forge, a marvel of the underground built by the Iron Division from ore mined by the Minotaurs, iron hammered by the Dwarves and magic imbued by Orcs.
The Great Forge[]
The heart of the entire area, this massive lava flooded cave provides room for a giant forge anchored in the middle. This is where the most powerful forging equipment in the entire underground can be found, including an enchanted smelter capable of turning any ore into pure ingots, a mould filling cauldron and a magic anvil that prevents metal from cooling.
Three drawbridges operated from two different security posts can disconnect access to the Great Forge and the neighboring facilities at any time.
The Workshop. Abhaoth gives Zan a hand by preparing the mould and information she needs to forge a gear for the Grove gate.
Workshop[]
As the name suggests, the Workshop is the place where Fixers tinker, conceive and work on different projects. It is split into an engineering area and a design area, with a large library providing the Goblins with a broad array of technical knowledge and schematics.
This is the birth place of technological wonders like the Spike Gun, Fragfire Gun, Potion Launcher, Crylance and Sentry Gun.
Mould Forge. Only the ammo production machines seem to be functional.
Mould Forge[]
In order to gradually eliminate exhausting manual work, the Fixers have invented ways to automate the creation of simple metal items. The Mould Forge contains many loud machines that can melt metal and other materials and process it into finished goods. As the Iron Division Campaign approached, the Mould Forge was used to mass produce ammunition.
The player can also use this area to create their own ammunition from the materials they encounter through the caves.
The Dwarven Forge. A banner of the Blacksmith Guild is posted by the entrance.
Dwarven Forge[]
Not everything can be automated, though, and Dwarves still remain unchallenged at manual smithing. The Dwarven Forge is equipped with various anvils, tools and a smelting machine which the Fixers constructed in order to replace the traditional coal furnace.
The player will often come here to turn their iron ore into usable ingots for the mould machines.
Repair Bay. The player can find a recently fixed mould machine here which they can use to craft an Iron Key.
Repair Bay[]
Technology does not always function as intended forever. The Repair Bay is where Fixers patch up faulty equipment of any shape and size.
Before the invasion began, the workers there were preoccupied with fixing a faulty Sentry Gun that could not identify an Iron Urchin as a friendly target during testing trials, thus ending up blown apart by the frenzied creature.
Forge shops. The staircase to the right leads up to the Plaza, but Cultists caved the access in, forcing Zan to blow it open.
Shops[]
At the end of the stairs leading up the the Upper Plaza visitors can browse and purchase various goods produced around the Forge. There are few shops here including an Iron Division gun shop, general store, martial weapon shop and a Dwarven weapon store.
Caverns[]
Lava filled caverns separate the Minotaur Caves from the Great Forge.
Past the main forge area lie a series of fiery caverns which are usually inhabited by Minotaurs who undergo their own mining operations and underground expansion.
Lava Caves[]
A system of lava caves provide the perfect living environment for the Forge Elementals and their Iron Urchin minions, while also giving a hard time to anyone who wants to cross them without proper protection.
The Minotaurs were taken by surprise by the Cultists, falling after fighting briefly with whatever weapon they had at hand.
Minotaur Caves[]
Past the lava caves, the Minotaur allies of the Iron Division host their own dwellings and underground operations. Even their caverns were not excepted from the Cultist invasion, especially under Nithriel's orders to cut off any pathways connecting Valc to the outer caves to prevent any reinforcements from coming.
In similar fashion to how it happened in the Crystal Mine, Crawlers appeared suddenly and began to cause cave ins and other trouble prior to the invasion, sealing off many tunnels.
Located above a lava fall lies the Fire Shrine. After exploring it, the player can notice that the area resembles the head of a bull on the map.
Fire Shrine[]
Minotaurs often come here to make offerings to their patron elemental deity, Fire. The dark stone statue resembling their kin can barely be noticed against the cave wall, and travelers also have to climb over a small lava fall in order to reach it.
The player can find the key to the Forgotten One's Maze in a secret area at the back of the shrine.
An endless pit separates the cave tunnels and the Iron Shrine. When the player gets nearby, Cultists attempt to ambush them from the pentagram, but because of the narrow space two of them end up teleporting above the chasm.
Iron Shrine[]
Probably the strangest objective in the area, the Iron Shrine is an important place of worship for the Goblin Fixers. Eerie magnetic fields and metallic formations surround a deep chasm, a set of floating gears leading up to a shrine that resembles a conglomerate of iron contraptions.
Here lies the statue or Iron, rumored to be the one shaping the Forge Elementals' hulls at birth.
Many have perished inside this maze after being locked inside.
Forgotten One's Maze[]
Close to the Iron Shrine is one of the large doors leading to the Forgotten One and his small iron maze. The doors can only be opened with an Axe key which the player needs to search for around the Fire Shrine. Inside, they will stumble upon few hostile Cultist ghosts and Iron Urchins, as well as the Forgotten One himself, and his personal forge.
Before being completely abandoned, the maze functioned as a prison where Minotaurs would throw convicts and let them die a slow death.
The main room of the barracks, with a door leading to a hot pool in the back.
Minotaur Barracks[]
With several beds traditionally carved as holes in the ground and a pool filled with thermal water, this barracks serves as a place to rest for the Minotaur miners as well as other visitors who work in the caverns.
When entering the pool, the player's health is briefly boosted until the bubbles in the water vanish.
The tavern, being occupied by the invaders.
Tavern[]
The Tavern is where the miners usually come to relax at the end of the work day, with few travelers willing to come to such a secluded place to share rumors. The tavern is run by the Minotaur Barkeeper and features a bar, a fireplace and some crude Woodshroom trunk tables where the miners get to eat, drink or play cards.
A door leads to the keeper's private room but the player cannot access it in-game.
The Dungeon is full of Crawler corpses and a dead Minotaur who appears to have fought them bare handed.
Minotaur Dungeon[]
Beyond the hidden cellar of the Tavern, few walls broken by Crawlers allow the player to see a brief part of a Minotaur Dungeon, showing signs of heavy fighting between the mutant worms and the horned warriors.
Zan can use this pathway to avoid having to return through the Lava Caves after gathering enough mithril to forge her gear.
Upon finishing her work at the Forge, the Halfblood heads to the shop area where she uses the Cultists' sapper charges to blow herself a path back into the Plaza. She then travels to the Park, where she fixes the gate mechanism leading to the Grove.