E2M9: Charnel House (Masters of Chaos)

E2M9: Charnel House is the ninth, and first secret, map in the Hellbound episode of Masters of Chaos. It can be accessed from E2M5: Badlands.

It was designed by Doom_Warrior and uses the Hexen music track "Borkesis".

Yellow key
Take the Ethereal Crossbow on your left and head north-west past the building in front of you. Follow the path past a door with green key gizmos to a switch guarded by dark bishops and press it, then backtrack to the start point to find that the door to the building has opened. Slay the waiting reivers and head west along the hallway, rounding the corner to a door with a chained man which you need to go through.

Follow the passage past a lift to a room containing a Dragon Claw and the yellow key. Slay the nitrogolems here (plus reivers on medium and hard skill levels) and take the key, which will open a wall to the east and release green chaos serpents. Use the weapon you just collected to slay them.

Green key
Backtrack to the building entrance and head east along the hallway this time, going round the corner to find a wooden door. Open it to find a room with gargoyles; reivers and undead warrior ghosts will also be revealed behind the west wall when you enter the room. Collect the Gauntlets of the Necromancer in the corner if you need them, then go through the door flanked by yellow key gizmos.

You will find a hallway containing Timebombs of the Ancients, as well as two golems and a nitrogolem; the hallway also has two crushing ceilings which can damage the monsters for you. Head through the hallway to another door, behind which is a large hall - five nightmares are present in this hall and the adjoining chambers, so be ready to shoot at a moment's notice. Head north through another door and follow the passage round the corner.

There are several more crushers ahead; move carefully through them and go round the corner to find three ophidians on easy skill levels, or an iron lich on medium and hard. Defeat the enemies then jump up to the trident symbol on the wall behind them to be teleported into a room with a crusher trap - quickly head forward and look for a small opening in the wall on your right, then crouch down to get inside it before you get squished.

Follow the crawlspace to a room with a grated ceiling. Head up the slope and destroy the iron lich and fire gargoyles ahead, then follow the passage to a silver door between brown columns. Open the door and step into the teleporter behind it, which will send you to a dark chamber with graves. Head forward to a wooden door and take the Jade Wand in front of it, causing several reivers to appear - slay them using your new weapon and press the switch that has been revealed in the north wall to open the door.

Head south up the staircase and slay the undead warrior ghosts waiting at the top, then turn left and follow the tunnel to a larger room that contains three ophidians on easy skill levels; on medium and hard two of them will be replaced with iron liches. Step on the platform in the south-east corner to be taken down to a water stream, then head south-west to find a small opening in the wall. Squeeze through it to a room with three nooks, and take the green key from the middle nook.

Exit
With the green key, press the switch in the east nook to open a door leading back to the yellow key room. From here, backtrack to the starting area and go north-east to a door you passed earlier that has green key gizmos. Open the door and slay the chaos demons waiting behind it, then press the switch on the north-east wall. Leave the room and turn left, heading forward into a river. Go north into a tunnel and follow it through a set of bars which opened when you pressed the earlier switch. Kill the fire gargoyle waiting ahead and drop into a fast-flowing stream which will carry you to a cavern with three weredragons. Kill them and head north up the stairs - the wall in front of you will open to reveal an undead warrior ghost. Kill this final enemy and step into the portal behind it to proceed to E2M6: Abyss.

Secrets

 * 1) As you follow the passage to the yellow key you will pass a lift. Strike the metal support east of the lift with any impact weapon to open a wall in the north-west corner of the room with the yellow key door. Go through this wall to drop into a sludge pool with a Tome of Power. (sector 25) Crouch down to go through the opening in the north wall to find a teleporter back to the previous room.
 * 2) After taking the yellow key, a wall to the east will lower to release chaos serpents. Kill them and go into the alcove they came from to find a Mystic Urn; approaching it will open walls on either side to another alcove containing golem ghosts. Kill them, take the Pile of Mace Spheres in the alcove and press the switch here to open a small chamber in the yellow key room, containing a Quiver of Ethereal Arrows and a Crystal Geode. (sector 53) You will need to jump and crouch in quick succession to get through the small opening.
 * 3) Follow the passage leading to the yellow key until you reach a lift and ride it up. The room above has serpent torches in its corners; press use on the south-east switch to lower a wall on your left, revealing a Silver Shield, three Quartz Flasks and five crystal vials. (sector 91) Press the switch in the south-west corner to get out.
 * 4) As the level starts, head forward past the green key door to see a small stone on your right. Press use on the stone to open a wall ahead, revealing a chamber with an Energy Orb and a Ring of Invincibility. (sector 95) Nightmares will also appear here on medium and hard skill levels.
 * 5) Go through the yellow key door and head north through a hallway with crushers to a large hall. Turn right and go through a doorway to a small chamber with tombs lining the walls. Climb up the tombs in the south-east corner; the top tomb will open to reveal a small space containing Wings of Wrath; crouch down to collect it. (sector 127)
 * 6) From secret #6, return to the large room and head north through a door, then follow the passage round the corner to see more crushers ahead. There is an opening in the wall by the second crusher; duck into it to find a dark room with four alcoves containing candles. Strike the north-west alcove with an impact weapon to open the south-east wall, revealing a passage leading to a Morph Ovum. (sector 313)
 * 7) When you are teleported to the room with the giant crusher, turn left and look up to see a switch on the wall; shoot this switch and go through the wall that opens next to it before you get squished. Take the pickups in this room, including an Enchanted Shield, and follow the passage to a teleporter that will put you back on track. (sector 340)
 * 8) After leaving the room containing the Jade Wand, head up the staircase to a room with two stone tombs. Open the panelled section of the west wall to reveal a Torch. (sector 538)
 * 9) From secret #8, open the north wall to find a teleporter. This will put you in a cavern near the starting area that contains a Shadowsphere, Greater Runes and a Crystal Geode. Step into the water and head west to find a Phoenix Rod and two Flame Orbs. (sector 527)

Current records
The records for the map at the Doomed Speed Demos Archive are:

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level, not including items and monsters spawned via scripts: