MAP03: The Cursed Village (Hexen Upstart Mapping Project)

MAP03: The Cursed Village is the third map of Hexen Upstart Mapping Project. It was designed by Manhs and uses the music track "Crypt" by Kevin Schilder.

Outskirts
Follow the path north past some ettins until you get to some rocks that resemble steps, then climb up them to reach a leafy ledge with an ettin and two afrits. Head north to some brown pillars that block your path, then enter the passage on your right to find an ettin guarding (depending on player class) a Falcon Shield, a Mesh Armor or an Amulet of Warding. Proceed south into the neighboring chamber then turn left and approach the face switch in front of you - a wall will rise in front of it and two closets containing afrits and ettins will open behind you. Kill them then enter the afrits' closet and press the face switch here to lower the wall blocking the first switch you saw. Press the first switch to open a door in the previous chamber.

Go through the door you just opened to see a church entrance in front of you; ignore it for now and turn right, then go round the corner to find afrits and one or two green chaos serpents guarding another face switch. Press it then backtrack to the area with the brown pillars and go through the west door that has now opened, heading round a corner to confront two afrits and a centaur. Proceed west over a fountain guarded by a brown chaos serpent until you see a wooden building on your right, open the door and kill two green serpents waiting behind it then head west into the neighboring room where a third serpent guards another face switch. Press it then backtrack past the fountain, where you will see that a wall on your left has lowered to reveal a well - drop into the well and slay one or two afrits, then press the switch here to raise the water level (this is also one of three "key" switches needed to open the way to the main village).

Return to the church entrance you saw earlier and open it to confront four or five dark bishops, then go up the steps at the back of the chapel to reach a junction. Head up the steps on your left past a centaur to reach a chapel with several enemies; there are steps on either side of the entrance that both lead up to a slaughtaur guarding a switch. Press both switches to lower a wall at the back of the chapel and reveal one or two bishops guarding the second key switch, press it then go back down the stairs and proceed to the bottom floor to enter a library. Fight your way to the south-west corner and go up the steps here to find a switch, then proceed to the middle of the east wall to find another switch between two bookcases; pressing these switches will lower the wall in the south-east corner and reveal the third key switch. Press it then go back outside and head north and east - the key switches you pressed earlier have opened some doors, revealing three or four green serpents guarding the door that opens the way to the village.

Village
Go back to the area with the brown pillars, which have lowered to reveal (depending on player class) Frost Shards, Timon's Axe or a Serpent Staff. Go up the gray steps to an area with three brown buildings and kill some afrits and slaughtaurs waiting in ambush, then open the door of the east building to confront two or three green serpents before heading up the steps to your right to kill a slaughtaur guarding a switch (one of three needed to reach the exit). Go back outside and enter the south-west building, then fight your way past some ettins and afrits to the north-west room, where a green serpent and a slaughtaur are guarding some steps that lead up to the second switch you need.

Drop to the ground and walk north to find the door to the north-west building. Go through it and kill any waiting enemies, then approach the doorway in the north wall to find multiple enemies, including another slaughtaur, at a bar; once they are dead, go behind the bar to press the third and final switch. Go back outside and head east to a fountain, where the rusty key has appeared; picking it up will raise a wall around you and spawn four bishops. Kill them to lower the wall, then return to the gray path in the middle of the village and proceed north to a portal which leads back to.

Other points of interest
Opposite the door of the western-most building are some steps leading down to a small garden; you can find a porkalator on the stone step in this garden. You can also walk round the outside of the building to get a Mesh Armor.

Secrets
There are no official secrets on this map.

Speedrunning
As this level does not contain official secrets, the NM 100S category is redundant.

Current records
The records for the map at the Doom Speed Demo Archive are:

The (absence of) data was last verified in its entirety on February 19, 2022.

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