Hub 2: Sacred Grove

Sacred Grove is the secret map from the second hub of Hexen, Shadow Wood. It is accessible via a hidden portal on the Shadow Wood map, which is unlocked once the main puzzle of the hub has been solved.

''Even the most hallowed spots have not been spared desecration. However, divine aid lies hidden for he that redeems this place and forces set in motion here will reveal future secrets.''

Walkthrough
The strategy is very simple. Kill the ettins as fast as possible.

After about 55 seconds and every ten seconds after that, additional ettins will teleport in. If the number exceeds twenty (the game prints a message saying how many are present each time it teleports more in), a message will display saying "you’ve waited for too long, now you die". At this point the exit is blocked off and infinite groups of 4 Chaos Serpents will spawn in, ultimately overwhelming and killing the player.

If you successfully slay all the ettins in time, a handful of powerups will spawn and steps will lower downwards towards the post in the centre, revealing a switch. This switch gives the message "a door opened on the Forsaken Outpost", which is a map from hub 4.

Despite the message, the switch actually solves only one half of the puzzle that makes the door open; the secret level from the previous hub, Bright Crucible, has a line that needs to be crossed in order to solve the other half. Thus, if you never completed that level, the door in the Forsaken Outpost will not open and you cannot enter the secret level of the fourth hub, the Desolate Garden.



Secrets
There are three Mystic Urns hidden in the walls of this map. Walk through the vines to the north, east, and west to find them.