Category:Daingean Machadae

Rising ominously from the center of Cathracharraig, Daingean Machadae casts its sinister influence across northern Midgaardia. It is a keep of pure gleaming obsidian, some days eclipsing the sun and enveloping whole villages in darkness, other days blinding them with brilliant light shows reflected off its glass surface; fickle behavior that perfectly matches that of its mistress, Tannah Machadae.

Precious few enter or leave Daingean Machadae, as Mistress Mach prefers to leave the everyday administration of her city to the underlings stationed in the garrison. As such, no one truly knows what goes on inside her stronghold. Foreigners have occasionally been spotted arriving with little fanfare, only to be admitted through the grand stairs to the west of the keep. And at night, when Cathracharraig quiets down somewhat, citizens can hear a cacophany from within, fueling the rumors that Mistress Mach has wrought something so terrible that she battles it every night to maintain control of her kingdom.

Level Range: 51-51

Builder: Scevine

Added: March 2011

Directions

Walking route from Aelmon: 22n,e,n,2w,n,e
Portal point: troll Tower Sentry, or Mserie the stonesmith, .ses2e2n3e, kill captain for Newly Minted Gate Key (attacking the captain will make you an outlaw, steal the key if possible). Travel .4w & unlock west or .3w2s2wne, unlock south, and go south to enter Daingean Machadae. Alternately, you can portal directly to Riscgnarl, the lawful captain holding the key.

If you'd like to get a key to the area without becoming an outlaw, get the Poorly Copied Key (pp wielmann, track half -- but be a rogue or you'll get blackjacked in Outsiders), and unlock the southern door in the grand entrance.

Another option is to kill the Brooding Magman and get his Heart Of Magma. Then drop this heart in the room "A rising column of magma" downstairs in the Cathracharraig mines. This will create a vortex on the ground which leads to a room "Immersed in fire!". Not clear if you can do anything in that room (dropping items has no effect), but that room contains an "opening"; if you enter opening you'll end up at the downstairs outside room "A rising column of magma!" in Daingean Machadae.

Connections

• Cathracharraig

Navigation

You will generally need to procure a key to enter the tower proper - by both the main gate in the west, or the back gate in the east. Once inside it is worth noting that doors will only remain for a limited time, before closing and locking behind you, which can mean you get locked out again. As such it may be a good idea to head to one of the three balconies and set recall for easy return.

The layout for the tower is slightly confusing as there are six different floors, but some of the up-down connections skip a floor. None of the floors are very big though, and corridors generally run in an east-west direction with the occassional room to the north or south - generally locked.

• The first floor can be accessed from the eastern 'back door', via Cathracharraig, if you have the key. This floor is where your corpse will turn up if you die in the crucible.
• The second floor is reached from the first or from the western 'front door', also via Cathracharraig. Climbing from the public, outer part of the tower you can reach the third floor, but you will not be able to enter the tower proper without someone on the inside to open the door for you. You can also reach the next floor from some stairs at eastern side of the tower. There is also a way up out of the forest section in the middle of the tower, which takes you directly up to the fourth floor. A couple of locked rooms on this level hold mobs which may be of interest - for xp if nothing else. Also, this level is where the ogre shaman can be found.
• The third floor is where you can find the balconies which are not cursed, a door out to the public section of the tower which is openable from the inside, a rather nasty room full of aggressive mobs and possibly the toughest part of the whole area, a way up to the fourth floor, and path directly up to the fifth.
• The fourth floor is home to a three deep gnome wizards, and a locked room with another one of Tannah's experiments (or pets). A route to the fifth floor can also be found here in a chaotic laboratory.
• The fifth floor is very small and essentially just forms a connection between the sixth and a a couple of locked rooms just below the way up, most notable for one of them having the entrance to the crucible.
• the sixth floor is Tannah Machadae's private quarters, and she can usually be found here unless someone has let her out to wander the tower. Tannah carries the Smoldering Iron Key (access to Fiery Tentacle and the Crucible).
• The crucible is an additional section of the tower - presumably in the firey lava beneath it - which is accessed only via a vortex. It is no-spell and can be quite tough to get out alive. Fortunately, a death here will dump your corpse out on the first floor and all you have to worry about is getting back into the tower.

Once inside the tower, possession of three keys will grant you access to the whole tower, as two of they keys open multiple doors.

Adventuring

The corridors of the tower are fairly safe to wander, as most of the trolls are not aggressive - one of the underlings being the exception. The Troll Assassin (e, n, from west turret) hits a bit harder than most as he is level 67 and uses the Trollish Light Crossbow (m76, +mh, +9hr, invis) with poison bolts. Also, there are several Quicksilver Wolf Cubs which wander the area and can pass through doors which ARE aggressive and can see hidden. If you are careful and scan, these are the only dangers from casually wandering the corridors. Any doors which can be passdoored are safe to move through, as are any which open without a key.

There is one notable exception to this, which is a very dangerous room. The room which contains Kragge, Szreaelle and Z'tarr has about six mobs inside, most of which are aggressive, tough, and have various unpleasant combat specs on them. Enter this room at your own risk.

Having gained two keys (three if you want to enter the crucible), you can then wander the rest of the tower and fight some of the special mobs in their own special rooms, all of which are aggressive, but all to be found on their own unless a wolf cub walks in.