Twisted Weald

The Twisted Weald is a dungeon that is located in Ilshenar. The entrance is West of Spirituality Moongate, inside a cave of mushrooms.

Entering the dungeon requires that one either be on, or have completed, the Dread Horn quest from Lorekeeper Calendor, who is located in elfin City of Heartwood. The Twisted Weald is accessed by traveling west along the mountains from the Shrine of Spirituality to the vine-covered entrance of the Mushroom Cave. To the north of the cave is a sparkling portal to the forsaken realm.

The attractions of the Dungeon include the "Twisted Glade Champion Spawn," the Peerless monster Dread Horn, and the following named minor bosses: Gnaw; Guile; Irk; Malefic; Silk; Spite; Swoop; and Virulent. Swoop, a purple eagle, was a popular gold farming spot until quite recently.

Lore

Once a pristine forest glen nestled amidst mountains, this area is now the tainted home of Dread Horn, Gnarled trees, stagnant pools of brackish water, huge spider webs, and thorny obstructions create a terrain ruled over by the influence of the blighted unicorn. Adventurers enter the dungeon by passing between a narrow gap in the bramble covered trees. Thorns bite into boots and entangle feet. Vast spider webs cling to players slowing their movement and drawing the attention of the arachnids who make this area their home.

The Twisted Weald: A Dungeon in 3 Parts

There are 3 main parts of this dungeon.

First, one encounters the champ spawn area, populated mainly by "good" monsters such as pixies. This champ spawn is of the following type: Twisted Glade Spawn (unofficial name). Swoop's nesting site marks the transition to the "evil" areas.

Next, there is a narrow, twisty maze of quicksand. Your character can only move at walking speed through this area. Cu Sidhes spawn in the quicksand maze.

Finally, the quicksand maze opens up into a deadly swamp. Do not step on the watery parts, unless you want to spawn several very dangerous spiders. The spiders that spawn from disturbing the waters do not contain the keys needed to challenge Dread Horn, though there is a quest that requires you to kill them.

The Dread Horn Keys

Like all Peerlesses, there are keys with timers (long timers, but timers none-the-less) on them, that need to be acquired. These keys are then exchanged for a "main key," which also has a timer on it (a VERY short one).

The keys needed to challenge Dread Horn are as follows.

The following keys are located in the swampy area:

• Sabrix's Eye (kill Lady Sabrix, a spider boss);
• Irk's Brain (kill Irk, a changeling boss);
• Lissith's Silk (kill Lady Lissith, a spider boss); and
• Blighted Cotton (greenish cotton plant, just pick it up from the swamp floor).

The following keys are located in the quicksand maze:

• Gnaw's Fang (kill Gnaw, a dire wolf boss that is located in the cave at the end of the "quicksand" area); and
• The Thorny Briar (purpleish thorn bush, just pick it up from the quicksand floor).

These keys are then exchanged for the main key, titled Essence of Wind, at the Statue of the Fey that is located in some ruins at the southeast corner of the swampy area.

Fighting Dread Horn

• Dread Horn is a large, corrupted unicorn.
• It poisons and it hits moderately hard. Watch out for how it singles out a target, poisons it, and pursues it no matter how much damage is done to distract it.
• Every kind of skill template can do OK against Dread Horn.
• It seems to be weak to physical damage.
• If you are a swordsman, the Breath of the Dead is a great weapon to use, because the Hit Life Leech, if you can hit consistently, can nullify Dread Horn's poison attacks.
• By way of special loot, look for Dread's Revenge File:Dreads revenge.gif (an artifact kryss), the Dread Horn Mane (an ingredient), the Pristine Head of Dread Horn (decoration, used to make yet another more valuable decoration), the Mangled Head of Dread Horn File:Mangled head of dread horn.gif (decoration). For a complete list, see Dread Horn.

Creatures

• Changelings are pixie-like beings who can change their appearance and fighting style to mirror those of their enemies.
• Cu Sidhes are large, tameable dog-like creatures.
• Dryads are tree spirits. They can calm everyone near them, preventing fighting or magic casting.
• Satyrs are classical greek Satyrs that have the barding ability of discord. Satyrs are located in the quicksand maze.
• Pixies are good (blue) small spell casting faeries located in the Twisted Glade Spawn (unofficial name) area.
• Irk is a Changeling mini-boss, Irk's Brain is one of the items needed to teleport your party to Dread Horn's Island.
• Dread Horn, a powerful evil unicorn, is the Peerless boss of the Weald. Dread Horn can infect you with a powerful poison. If you try to attack Dread Horn from a distance or with pets, you will occasionally be teleported to within the foul creature's reach.

Champion Spawn

• The first "level" of this dungeon (the area before the quicksand maze) is a champion spawn similar to Lord Oaks, but harder.
• The Champion is Twaulo of the Glade.

Misc Tips

• Stepping in the swamp water tiles where Irk, Guile, and other named bosses reside will spawn several (4-6?) spiders that auto-target you.
• It is possible to cast Energy Vortexes from the moongate into the main named boss spawn area.
• Changeling Paragons are deadly, period. They are much faster and have the standard paragon boost to hit points. If you can lure one down to the champion spawn altar, the 'good' aligned spawn will eventually kill it.
• Gnaw is particularly easy for an Animal Tamer to farm, but the loot is not substantial.
• There are up to four Cu Sidhes floating around the Champion altar if you are looking to tame one. Tamers frequently 'turn over' the spawn in search of rare colors. This means that, at any given time, there are usually 2 or more Cu Sidhe Paragons available to hunt.