Hub 3: Wolf Chapel

''The savagery and cunning of the wolf are worshipped here. To triumph here, one must match the ferocity of the enemies encountered.''

Key puzzle switch
You appear in a room with another set of tripartite portals, which lead to the other two chapels and the Seminary. Venturing out into the open area, you will face numerous centaurs and slaughtaurs. It is a good idea to dispatch the crowd on the plateau before taking on the next swarm in the lowlands ahead. Be aware that there is a staircase connecting the lowlands and plateau, and it is possible for the centaurs to climb up. You must also be wary of slaughtaur shots. By staying on the high ground, you should be able to take them out without difficulty. As you make your way westwards, you will come to another plateau and stairs, and of course more centaurs and slaughtaurs to fight. If you need replenishment, there are crystal vials next to the cliff-face to the northeast of the map. Blue mana containers can be found by the western cliff-face and strewn about.

Having cleared the open terrain of centaurs, it is time to explore and take stock. The map is dominated by a single large, squat, stone building — the Wolf chapel itself. It has barred windows which greet you with strange sights: an execution chamber, and dark bishops waiting quietly in a store-room. The stone doors are sealed shut for now (they must be opened by switches). To the southwest, on the inverted corner by the lowlands, there is a single wooden door by which you can enter. Inside is a small chamber with a bullhead switch, guarded by a few dark bishops. Pulling the switch opens the main entrance, located on the south wall, east of your current location. This leads into the chapels nave, which is heavily guarded by green chaos serpents. It is best to fight them from a distance, and step inside only after most of the crowd is dealt with. Within the nave, there are quartz flasks and combined mana containers to pick up. There are more sealed stone doors, but also a pair of wooden doors which can be opened on the eastern wall. The northeast wooden door leads to a pair of chambers guarded by slaughtaurs; the first holds blue mana, while the second has green mana, fléchettes, and a barred side-entrance. The southeast wooden door is where you must go. Within its chamber are dark bishops guarding a chain switch, the first puzzle switch on this level. Pull it, and you will be told that “one ninth of the puzzle has been solved on the monastery”. In addition, this switch partially unlocks the other two chapels, allowing you to progress further.

Assuming you have not been to the other chapels yet, this is all that can be done for now. You should make your way back east to the tripartite portals. The portal directly facing you leads to the Dragon Chapel, which is the next visit by convention.

Post Dragon Chapel
You will hear some of the stone doors open, providing further access into the chapel. Closest to the portals is the eastern postern, which leads into the chambers with slaughtaurs, mana, and fléchettes; if you have not cleared this area already, you should do so now. Within the pillared nave, the central eastern door has opened, leading into the store-room containing fléchettes and dark bishops, another area to clear. More importantly, the western postern and western nave door are now open, both letting you into a series of inner chambers connected by a corridor. You may take either entrance; the advantage of the postern is that it lets you skip past the pitfall chamber, as well as sneak up on enemies.

Assuming you are taking the main route from the nave, you will first enter a chamber with a deep pit, with dark bishops lurking below. Upon noticing you, they will rise up and attack (clearing the eastern chamber is enough to trigger this). Once these are dealt with (using a ranged weapon), you can proceed. There is a small platform in the midst of the pit which you can hop across, but it’s safer to stick to the ledge running around the perimeter. There is green mana on the far side, and a wooden door to the right/north; this connects to the looping corridor, which is guarded by ettins (as always, try not to get surrounded). There are many more wooden doors on either side of the corridor, and to the left/west you will see the open postern gate. If you entered the corridor via the postern, the southeastern wooden door, second on your right going straight in, leads to the pit. Describing the outer doors as you proceed north from the pit chamber:


 * 1 & 2: a vestry guarded by dark bishops, containing discs of repulsion and mana
 * 3 & 4: an execution chamber with a couple of dark bishops
 * the open postern
 * 5: two connected rooms with pillars containing the puzzle switch

The connected rooms west of the pit chamber, next to the postern, is where you must go. There are more dark bishops, but otherwise, you will reach the puzzle switch easily enough. Pulling it will solve the fourth part of the puzzle (almost halfway there), and that is when things get interesting — a few moments later, the torches light and the pillars lower, unleashing enemies. The switch room will surround you with ettins, while the two pillars in the next room release dark bishops. After the melee, you can pick up blue mana and quartz flasks from the opened pillars. In the second room, the opened northeast pillar will bring you up to an alcove containing an ettin and an Icon of the Defender.

With the switch pulled, your main task in this area is complete. The inner doors of the corridor all lead to the same central area, with ettins, dark bishops, crystal vials, and a fiery altar; clearing this chamber is optional. The postern gate to the west conveniently leads outside.

From here, you may head back to the nave or to the portals. If you have not yet visited the Griffin chapel, you should make for its portal. If you are following the conventional order (and visited all three), you should re-enter the nave via the main entrance and proceed onwards.

After Griffin Chapel
Get back to the pillar room. The main door, the one to the north is now finally opened. Get there. If you want to gather some more goodies (they might be useful the upcoming fight is going to be tough...), go to the rooms to your right and left (east and west). But be careful! Upon entering them, some ettins are going to jump through the ceiling (I just love this event)! Then take the main corridor right in front of you. Again, ettins are going to break through all the painted windows in it. Kill them and get to the big room at the end. There kill all the monsters (still not THE big fight of the level...).

Now the platforms in that room form something like stairs. If you run along the ledge of the uppermost platform, you should be able to jump on the two pillars on each side of the room. First, it lets you take the goodies there but it also counts as the eigth part of the puzzle. When you’ll complete that, the lights will change, the symbol on the ground will rise and a lot of Dark Bishops are going to teleport in (the big fight). When you’ll have killed them, you can jump from the symbol into the niche with the Krater of Might (previously inaccessible). That completes this level and you can go back to the Dragon Chapel where the last part of the puzzle is waiting for you.

Player spawns
This level contains eight spawn points:
 * 1) facing west. (thing 254)
 * 2) facing south. (thing 255)
 * 3) facing east. (thing 256)
 * 4) facing south-west. (thing 257)
 * 5) facing south. (thing 379)
 * 6) facing south. (thing 380)
 * 7) facing north-east. (thing 381)
 * 8) facing south. (thing 382)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

Trivia

 * The illuminated symbol on the northern chancel resembles an inverted 'Church rune' as seen on Silent Refectory.
 * Wolves often appear in mythology and folklore as a metaphor for violence, cruelty, and danger, e.g. the "big bad wolf".
 * Indo-European Paganism associated the wolf with the warrior. In fact, there may have been initiation rituals in which warriors donned wolf-skins, which was believed to impart them with the strength and aggression of the wolf. This in turn might have given rise to the legend of the werewolf. However, the myth may have deeper roots, dating back to the Lykaia festival of Ancient Greece held in Arcadia, which in turn influenced the Roman festival of Lupercalia.
 * In the listing of levels, the Wolf Chapel is map19, separate from the rest of the chapels (maps 14-16). This suggests that the Wolf Chapel was a later addition, perhaps displacing the Deathwind Chapel's role in the second puzzle.