The Basement
This area is reached by stair from the Hall of Doors - taking you to the main, central corridor. A fountain at K7 will heal you, but only once.
One NPC tells you there's more to this basement than meets the eye; he wants to know the secret of what lies behind the thick walls of this corridor. Another tells of a marble block near here with the name Arnakkian Slowfoot, wizard to the King. Others tell of a race of elf-like creatures deep in the dungeon and that you must work with races you would normally ignore to succeed (I think this refers to the on-line game). One says to the east of the Rune Room is the Wizard's Challenge, quite a challenge it is too, though he found several short cuts to it.
Three doors lead off the south side of the corridor but there isn't much here apart from a room behind a locked door at D14 (use a yellow lockpick or better). King Hobgoblins and Hobgoblins at A14 are tough - use a sovereign scroll.
Yes, there are three secret areas around the corridor. One southern area can only be dropped into via trapdoors from the Treasury. A one-way door leads back to the corridor at E4.
A teleport from the Hall of Doors will land you in another at P15. From here, make your way to P8 where another teleport will take you across the north end of the corridor to the left side of the area. There's a complicated series of stairs and one-way walls starting at I1. These will take you to the Soldiers's Quarters and back down - twice - to allow you to reach two more areas down this side.
There are some lucrative fights at N5 and O5 and, finally, a teleport to The Great Corridor at A1.
Palace Corridor
Seemingly not much here. You can only access the three corridors directly. One NPC tells you the object to open locked doors is on the first level. This is the Palace Key which we found in The Vestibule. Another says there are 3 secret areas in this level but they can't be entered from this corridor. True. The only way in is from The Rune Room, which you won't be able to do for a while yet. A third says that not all traps are dangerous; she found a useful key down one.
Some advance warning from another NPC lets you know that the entrance to King Cleowyn's Apartments are guarded by a dwarf called Deldwinn. You are warned not to try to fight him as he is enchanted and cannot be killed by mortals. An Orc Knight also warns that the King's Palace is filled with spirits of the tormented dead and to look for an asymmetry in the Palace if you wish to hear the truth about the dead king.
You can reach The Vestibule from doors at the top left (O1, P2) and stairs down to The Rune Room at O16 and P15. A door at C5 is locked but translating the runes on the tapestry next to it tells you that none shall pass save one who holds the key to the Palace. This allows you to reach the doors at A1 and A2 which lead to Cleowyn's Palace.
Cleowyn's Palace
A tough area with various undead lurching around such as ghosts, banshees and nightmares. An NPC near the entrance from the Palace Corridor tells you King Cleowyn appears on his throne on special occasions and won't leave until all mortals have left the palace. Another warns that the Pit is pitiless, do not go near it, but also says that the traps are dangerous but they may aid you. A third says to obey the King and return his cherished possessions to be blessed. Keep them and you will die.
There are a few locked doors to open with a blue lockpick and others to open by brute force. The pit mentioned is at D5 but I found it no problem; it drops you two floors to the King's Domicile (unless they mean the one in the Mine?). Pillars and trapdoors abound. The trapdoors lead to the Prison. Get back by using the Pit to the King's Domicile in the Prison and the elevator there to come back up (see those sections).
The trapdoors stop you reaching the bottom left corner of the area - a problem. But a tapestry at K8 tells you that what you see is not always what is real. You'll discover what this means when you approach some pillars and find they move away from you. Use this technique to go through the door at I16 and head along the corridor round the bottom right corner. Go through the door at the end (A10) and the pillar at A8 will move away from you - and keeps doing so. Move along the bottom edge to A5 and then north to B5. You'll enter a major scrap with King Cleowyn and other ghosts! Use Control and Poison Cloud and once you win, you'll gain the King's Ring.
Return to A5 and the King's spirit will meet you. He tells you the imps that serve Arnakkian have stolen his crown, robe and sceptre. Return them to their proper places in the Mausoleum and he will reward you. He also tells you he was killed by Arnakkian's spirit and you must find his body and put it in the Mausoleum so he can rest in peace. He tells you to find and read the tapestry and the Ring is the seal of his promise.
Whatever you do, don't go back to B5. The King will reappear and take back his Palace Key before attacking you, necessitating a trek back to the Vestibule for another one.
Instead, head to the tapestry at H12 which was blank until this fight. Now it translates to say that imps have hidden the robe, crown and sceptre. Only a master of the runes may find them. Two-faced Y is at the centre of the quest. From Y, open O and E and I. When a rune key is used correctly, it will disappear.
At this stage in your adventure, this will be very confusing. Just wait a little while and all will become clear.