Hammerlorne Mountain is west of Durnore, and you will find the Hammerlorne Grand Hall by traveling west along the mountainsides. You'll come to an impressive stone bridge built over a chasm, leading
up to a towering main entrance built into the rockface. This entrance
to the Grand Hall is reserved for exclusive use by the dwarves, and you
won't be able to get in this way.
The hidden back entrance is found by circling a round the crags jutting out southwest of the main edifice, and then going back up the northeast path between some groves of trees on the other side.
You can get Brumbledon's key without any violence (see Durnore section) and complete one of the main Crux of Fire-related quests for 1000xp if you do it that way, but you might also be able to pick the high-level lock here as well. Either way: You can complete the main quest to reclaim the Crux of Fire without killing anyone in the mines— though ensuring your own survival won't be quite as easy.
 |
| The Hammerlorne Key from Brumbleton's locked chest in Durnore opens this lock. |
To get through the whole three level Hammerlorne Grand Hall & Mine complex, we'd recommend ideally having the invisibility spell (if playing as a mage), and/or a solid stock of at least a few haste and invisibility potions. (A decent stock of mana potions would probably also be a good idea.)
The Hammerlorne Grand Hall
As soon as you step inside the Hammerlorne Grand Hall, you'll be trespassing on sacred dwarven ground, and all the Dwarven Miners you encounter will be hostile to you. (At any times when stealth isn't an option, we still found the miners susceptible to higher-level castings of Sparkling Wonder for at least a few turns, which is enough to keep them at bay long enough to get past, or keep hostile dwarven miners from blocking narrow pathways or entrances.) There are also a number of large black Bonebiter rats in the Grand Hall chambers, but they're also easy to scare away with the same spell.
In order to get to the Crux of Fire, you'll need to go to the narrow upper central passage (running northwest by southeast, but not the wider passage running all the way to the far southeastern main entrance to the Grand Hall) and take the southwestern passage in the middle of it: This will bring you to closed gates with a lever that opens them nearby, but also a locked door you'll need to get past to reach the one-way teleportation pentacle into the mines.
 |
| The Grand Hall and chest containing a security key to enter the teleportation chamber to the mines... |
If you already picked the locks of Brumbledon's chamber, you probably won't have trouble using lock picks on the locked security door here, but you can also find a security key inside a trapped chest at the north end of the large southeast-running passage that leads toward the main gates.
After you let yourself into the security chamber with the teleportation pentacle, you'll just need to step onto it to be transported into the mines, but be aware that you won't be able to get out in the same way you came in...
The Hammerlorne Mines: The Maze
After taking the one-way teleporter into the mines, you'll find yourself in a maze that the dwarves probably built to confound invaders.
After wandering through many narrow passages, there is a locked gate you'll eventually find northeast of your starting position, but you will have to go throw a level further in the northwest to open it. There are also some black powder kegs that can be used to blow open a wall east of where you'll find them, opening up a chamber with a chest containing at least one invisibility potion. (If you're braving the mines without your own stock of these, yo umight want this potion a very short time from now.)
You'll eventually reach a room (shown above) with a sign warning that you face a choice of paths, and that one leads to certain death. Taking the north (right side) path will take you to a portal that will transport you into a room full of Sentinel Stalks that are very dangerous unless you have something like invisibility, Dense Nimbus (or perhaps alchemical alternatives like stoneskin potions) or excellent stealth skills.
At first glance it doesn't look like there is any way out of this deadly room, but there is actually a phantom wall between the two torches on the easter side, and you can walk straight through it to escape. (If you can stay hidden long enough, you can probably also grab the contents of a chest you'll find in the dark, west of the Sentinel Stalks.)
 |
| There is a hidden door through a section of illusionary wall directly between these two torches. |
Not far from this chamber, you'll find the stairway to the deeper level of the Hammerlorne Mines, containing the Dwarven Tombs...
 |
| This stairwell descends to the second deeper levels of the Hammerlorne complex... |
Hammerlorne (second level): Dwarven Tombs
Having reached this level, you'll find yourself in the northwest facing the passage leading into the Dwarven Tombs, where you'll arouse the wrath of ancient Dwarven Spirits, and also encounter significant numbers of marauding skeletons and skeleton archers.
You'll have to open a series of gates in order to get through this area, even if you have no intention of robbing the tombs: After passing through the central passageway leading through a widened chamber (in which angry ethereal Dwarven Spirits will materialize, and chase you with an echoing rattle of chains), you'll find a forking southeast set of passages leading southeast and southwest.
A Puzzle of Gates and Levers
You'll have to overcome the obstacles of a series of locked gates (and floor traps) by finding levers in various parts of the tombs, and throwing them to figure out which gate they open elsewhere.
Fortunately, if you make a mistake, manipulating the
levers and backtracking to see exactly which was opened should eventually work (unlike many unforgiving dungeon crawlers of yesteryear, which would often trap you for
throwing a single lever out of sequence).
It might be easier to just experiment with this yourself and ignore our directions, but if we're not mistaken: The lever to open the northwest gate to an ossuary-like set of chambers is on the west side of this forking passage. Then backtracking to the western ossuary chambers will enable you to find another lever in the bone chamber (in the lower right part of the western ossuary you just entered).
That will open up another gate on the eastern fork of the lower southeast passage below the wide open tombyard full of dwarven spirits, and you'll have to avoid or disarm some traps to reach another lever behind that newly opened gate. That should open the gate you need to get out of this place: the one above the tombyard facing northeast (straight across from the entrance to the ossuary chambers).
Once you open the gate northeast and follow the fairly narrow passage a short way northeast, the passage will twist and turn and bring you to a four-way junction, with three passages to choose from when you arrive walking southeast: If you take the northeast passage, you'll come to a rocky cave chamber containing a powder keg, but may want to refrain from blowing it up until reading the information below...
 |
| The entrance to the treasure room blow open with a powder keg... |
The Treasure Room & The Rubescent Bell
You'll reach this treasure room by taking the southwest passage from the junction. Even if you're very scrupulous and don't want to steal anything from the Dwarven Tombs (other than the mandatory Crux of Fire, which you'll find deeper in the mines), the treasure room you can find at the end of this passage contains one of the four bells you'd need to return to Lockston Hall's archives in order to claim 30,000 nonviolent experience points later on. Since you're already causing offense by your presence in the mines, you may want to consider doing this (though you certainly can still win a smooth pacifist run with no kills without relying on the extra 30,000 xp).
If you want to get into the treasure room: You'll need to retrieve the black powder cave from the cave chamber at the end of the northeast passage (from the junction), and bring it back to blow open the wall. One of the three chests is a combination chest, and there is a plaque above the wall that will give you a clue to figure out the puzzle.
(If you want to just find out what it is, ours was 6109, the 2nd line from bottom read backward- assuming solutions aren't randomized.) Once the chest opens, you can take the Rubescent Bell from inside, and let your own conscience be your guide about whether to take anything else.
Finally, returning to the four-way junction and heading southeast will take you to the stairs leading even deeper into the heart of the Hammerlorne Mining complex, which houses both the actual mine tunnels, and the Dwarven treasure vaults and gold reserves...
 |
| The stairway descending to the deepest level of the mines, where you'll find the Crux of Fire... |
Hammerlorne (third level): The Mines & Dwarven Vaults
You'll arrive here at the northeast end of a long passage leading to another four way junction. You'll find some miscellaneous chambers by taking the southeast passage, but aren't sure there's anything crucial to find there.
 |
| The four-way junction near the starting point of the vault and mine level of Hammerlorne... |
If you take the northwest passage instead, you'll come to another long hall that contains three gates leading to the vaults, and a closed and locked vault containing the spectacle of the Dwarven gold reserves heaped behind the locked gates.
 |
| The Dwarven Gold Reserves (which you can view, but not steal). |
If you're playing as an unscrupulous thief, you won't actually be able to get inside and loot the gold reserves as far as we know, but probably won't be too disappointed since you'll still have the option of stealing from all three vaults to the southwest, as well as from the tombs above. Whether you rob the vault or virtuously abstain and move directly toward your main goal:
When you take the southwest passage, you'll pass a teleportation square that can take you back to the upper levels, but if you want to head onward toward the Crux of Fire, you can just continue past this and throw a lever that opens a gateway into another chamber facing southeast.
The Devilmander Pit
Before approaching this area, be aware that entering the wider chamber below will trigger an unseen trap releasing hostile Devilmanders, which are faster than most foes, and more difficult to deal with.
 |
| The Devilmander Pit |
Invisibility is the easiest way to deal with them, in which case you can proceed to pull a sequence of four levers to open a succession of gateways that will open the exit to the pit chamber, and you can proceed onward further southeast. (Otherwise, you'll have to just do your best to evade the Devilmanders and avoid letting them trap you in a narrow space, but still open all the same levers to be able to escape the chamber.)
There are some traps at the bottom of the next area, after which the path turns northeast, finally pointing you toward the mine caverns that will soon lead you to the Crux of Fire...
The Mine Caverns
At this point you'll finally have reached the mines. There are several side chambers leading into large mine caverns that might contain a few random treasures and black powder kegs, and you can also use these to rest if you need to. (If you happened to be relying on a limited stock of potions but
have foraging and alchemy skills to brew more, this might be a good time to forage for more reagents.)
To get past the gate in the northeast and proceed, you'll be able to just throw a lever and go into the caverns beyond, where you'll find a two-way teleportation square in the cave furthers to the northeast.
 |
| Teleporting into the inner cavern containing the Crux of Fire |
This will teleport you to a large chamber reserved for the housing of the Crux of Fire, which you can now take to complete your main quest.
 |
| The Crux of Fire enshrined on a pedestal. |
Taking the Crux will reward you with an impressive 7000 experience points, and automatically update your quest book with the quest "Return the Crux to Korren," requiring you to go back to the Secret Guild Hall of Crius Vindica on the Forsaken Coast, with the Crux of Fire in your possession.
However, when you steal the Crux, a warning horn will begin to echo in the caverns, alerting Dwarven Miners that an intruder has invaded the mine and stolen the Crux. You'll encounter quite a few of these Dwarves trying to stop you on your way back to the teleporter, but they shouldn't be difficult to evade, assuming you have stealth, invisibility, or other effective means that enabled you to come this far in the first place.
 |
| An invisible mage slips past the Dwarven miners who appeared in the mines to attack the thief who stole the Crux... |
You'll need to backtrack for awhile until you again reach the turnoff to the teleporter (past the cave passages and the Devilmander pit) off the side of the northeast-facing passage back to the upper junction. (Note: This teleporter is one way if we're not mistaken, so you should probably only step on it when you're ready to leave the mines and vaults with the Crux.)
After you escape from the mines and Grand Hall, you'll finally be able to leave and return the Crux of Fire to Korren at the secret Gulid of Crius Vindica on the Forsaken Coast, in order to continue the main questline.
As an aside: You may hear a rumor later on (from dwarves in Eschalon: Book III) referring to Lord Brumbleton's wrath over the theft of the Crux and invasion of the Hammerlorne Mines. However, Brumbleton won't ever seem to suspect your player character of being the culprit, and he'll remain civil to you at Durnore (assuming he didn't catch you burgling his own chambers). Whether you feel guilty about your trespasses or not, you have at least now passed one of the game's more formidable dungeons without killing anyone
or anything inside!
