Hub 1: Seven Portals (map)

Seven Portals is the first hub map in Hexen. It connects you to all other levels on the Hub except for the prologue. It is closely intertwined with the puzzles on other maps, so you will make many visits.

''The seven doors once guarded Hexen from outside invasion. Forces that had served the world now bar your way and hide a valuable secret.''

First visit -> Guardian of Ice
You begin in front of an Icon of Korax. As it turns fiery, he delivers the first and most memorable of his cryptic taunts: “Greetings mortal, are you ready to die?” After the wall opens, you will be able to ride the elevator down to the main area. Here you’ll battle several Ettins, and there are Afrits in closed-off areas near the start. If you are the Mage, there will also be Afrits in the open. There will be Crystal Vials and Fléchettes available. You will see seven great doors around the perimeter, guarding the seven portals you must go through. On a pillar to the east/left, there will be a bullhead switch to pull. This opens the middle door directly ahead. Behind it, there will be more monsters, including Green Chaos Serpents. Fléchettes can be useful for dealing with these. The triangular spire in the south behind you will descend as the door opens. In medium to low difficulties, it will have your second weapon, while in harder difficulties there will only be Quartz Flasks. With a ranged second weapon, the serpents won’t be too much trouble.

Behind the door, you’ll find a raised wooden area with frozen demon statues, Blue Mana along the sides, and a window overlooking an icy cavern. Step up to the Quartz Flask in the window, and the cavern will open up. You’ll be able to go down the stairs from either side. There will be Blue Mana, Crystal Vials, and Quartz Flasks on the elevator. There are no traps here. Ride the elevator up to the portal, where you’ll enter Guardian of Ice.

Second visit -> East guardians
As you return from Guardian of Ice, the two other eastern doors will open. The northern door leads to Guardian of Fire, while the southern door takes you to Guardian of Steel. You’ll have to enter both, but you can go through in either order. In higher difficulties, the Mage will find his Frost Shards in Guardian of Fire, while the Cleric will find his Serpent Staff in Guardian of Steel. Getting your second weapon sooner is the major determining factor in that case.

Behind both doors you’ll find Ettins (and Afrit for the Mage), two demon statues that glow red or look metallic (for fire and steel respectively), wooden corners, and a bullhead switch. When you pull the switch, the lighting changes, and the wooden corner opens to unleash a Green Chaos Serpent. The corner rooms contain two Fléchettes and a Blue Mana container. You’ll find that another corner has opened up with a portal to the corresponding level, along with Quartz Flasks and Blue Mana. The Guardian of Fire portal room is made of basalt blocks, while the Guardian of Steel portal room has steel plates.

Third visit -> East guardians
Go to either Guardian of Fire or Guardian of Steel, depending on which one you returned from. In order to progress here, you’ll need to pull three (3) puzzle switches on those levels - one (1) in Guardian of Fire, and two (2) in Guardian of Steel.

Fourth visit -> Second Guardian of Ice portal
With the puzzle solved, the central western gate will now open. Behind it is a crowd of Green Chaos Serpents and Ettins. Since this area leads to the second Guardian of Ice portal, you’ll see a similar entrance room, with a raised wooden platform and frozen demon statues. There are Fléchettes, Blue Mana and Quartz Flasks strewn about. Like before, go up to the Quartz Flask that appears in the window (barred this time) to open the cavern. Two staircases open at the sides, leading down to an icy area where pillar traps raise and lower as a warning. There are many dangers this time. Wendigos throughout the cavern shoot ice. As you reach the icy ground, you’ll see several brighter patches. If you step on them, they will rise up as pillars and crush you against the ceiling. If you run over them quickly, you can trigger them and keep them safely raised, but be careful. Ahead, there will be a raised staircase - this leads up to more Wendigos and ice crushers. Try not to get trapped behind the two ice crushers on the left. An elevator with Crystal Vials will take you up to the portal room with Quartz Flasks. Before you proceed, there are two side-rooms to explore. Open either of the ice doors, and they both open. The room to the left/south is full of Wendigos, but the room to the right/north rewards you with Quartz Flasks and Blue Mana. When you’re ready, enter the portal to a new and more challenging part of Guardian of Ice.

Fifth visit -> Alternate guardian entrance
You’ll return by the first gate to Guardian of Ice. Across from you, the other two western doors will open. Stairs will rapidly rise to the central structure. You can take the stairs for Dragonskin Bracers, but other than that, don’t worry about this area for now. Behind the two newly opened doors will be Afrits in the north, and Centaurs in the south - corresponding to the fire and steel levels respectively. Once they’re cleared, you’ll go through a similar routine of pulling the bullhead switch, defeating the Green Chaos Serpent, and entering the portal room. The chambers are symmetrical, so this is the same as earlier. You can enter whichever you choose, as long as you have the Fire and Steel keys.

The southwestern Guardian of Steel portal is necessary, as it opens up a new area. The northwestern Guardian of Fire portal is optional as it leads to the same general area; however it is more convenient, as it brings you directly to the lava flow room.

Sixth visit
You should now head to the other western portal, either to Guardian of Fire or Guardian of Steel, depending on which one you revisited already. Once again, there are three (3) puzzle switches to pull: one (1) in Guardian of Fire, and two (2) in Guardian of Steel, as before.

As previously stated, you must take the newly opened western portal to Guardian of Steel.

Seventh visit -> Southern portal
Now basically all the three big flights of stairs in the main area whould have risen, forming a trident pointing to the seventh, still closed gate. Go up each of them finding there a bull-head switch. When all three of them are pulled, the final gate will open. Note also that the central stairs leads you to Bracers of Dragonskin and the other two have a chain switch just opposite to the bull-head one. Pulling those two switches opens the two barred ways in the room just after the dark one in the Guardian of Ice, opening ways that eventually lead to the secret level (more on that later). Anyway, now just go to the big room behind the seventh gate, kill all the monsters there and then pull the switch at the end. This opens the big green wall, letting you out into yet another area full of monsters. From this area (best after having killed all the monsters) you can access the Wings of Wrath (see Secrets, below). Anyway, after killing all the monsters, "invisible" stairs will appear, leading to the portal beyond the pitfall (you will see them as rotating small blue lights). If you are not interested in the secret level (or have already been through it), jump in right into the heart of Shadow Wood.

If you want to get to the secret level (Bright Crucible), go back to the Guardian of Ice (the best is to take the first portal, i.e. the eastern one).

Eigth visit
If everything went alright, you should be returning from the Guardian of Fire, where you solved half of the puzzle of the Bright Crucible. So just head back to the Guardian of Ice, where the other newly opened door awaits you.

Ninth visit -> Bright Crucible (secret)
Now, the Bright Crucible should be accessible. On the northern part of the central area of this level, right in front of the lift to the place you appeared in at the very beginning of this level is a square made of stone pillars (there are - or have been, if you killed them already - afrits there). These are the stones that grinded, as the message told you. That is, they moved so that now you can get past them. There, there is a small hole where the river flows to and a niche (with iron bars) where it flows from (in the northern end of this "stone circle"). In that niche, before the bars, is an invisible portal that leads to the Bright Crucible.

Tenth visit
Now, this one is really the last time you wander through this level. If you already opened the seventh portal to the next episode, Shadow Wood, just go there and walk into it. If not, refer to the "seventh visit" above, where I described how to get there.

Secrets

 * Bright Crucible, reached only at the end.
 * At the large battlefield with the cliff at the end, go to the far left of the cliff and jump onto the ledge, kill three chaos serpents as you make your way up. Grab the Wings of Wrath (note: it is recommended that you kill all of the monsters before you do this).

Trivia

 * Two polyobjects near the exit to Bright Crucible exhibit bugs, because they either cross into another sector, or because the sector containing them is not concave. Unrotated polyobject #23 (south-west pillar) allows you to see through its corner.  Rotated polyobject #25 (south pillar) allows seeing through the southern edge from the right, and entering said object from the north-east corner.