Duskhollow Woods

You enter Duskhollow Woods from Caerlin Woods through the passage that opens once you fit the Wolf Queen's head onto the headless statue on the western side of Caerlin Woods; you come out at the north-eastern edge of Duskhollow Woods. From there the first thing to work out is how to cross this forest at all, because the dragon holds part of it.

While the dragon is alive it throws up walls of fire here. Each one lasts three turns and deals 8 to 11 fire damage per turn. The middle of the territory is a safe zone around the main cave entrance, so there is a way through – you just have to reach it. Kill or drive off the dragon and the fire walls are gone for good. A portal to Roots of Underkeep sits in the eastern part of the forest, and there are two fast travel gates: Duskhollow North up in the north and Duskhollow Dwarf Camp by the dwarven camp in the south. Touch both as you pass, even without a teleport stone yet; you will be coming back this way.

A green lantern in the north starts The Light That Burns Twice. Examine it, lean closer and listen to the voice inside without damaging it yet. Head south to the burned grave and summon the Soul Warden there. Lead the spirit back to the lantern without killing it on the way. More story text follows there, and the ending takes in a guardian you have to beat and smashing the lantern for 400 XP and the Lantern Key. We have not confirmed the exact final sequence or the guardian's identity, so make a save before completing it. Around the graves and pillars, a Voidshard, Blue Lantern or Voidcaller can also summon the spirit.

Extra Voidspinners spawn around the area during this quest. Spiders also hold the north-eastern corner around the egg sacs, so don't work through the northern half of the forest with a worn-out party. Hippogryphs roam the northern meadows on top of that. Use the Lantern Key on the locked chest in the far north-east for the Staff of Sleeper and a Mimic Heart. A barrel nearby holds Moldy Bread, a Rusty Scale Helmet and 1 coin, and there is a resurrection shrine close to it.

North of the middle of the forest you run into a five-statue puzzle. Push the statues onto the five pressure plates so they form a cross; the plates respond to statues only, your party will not trigger them. If you wedge yourself in, the levers send the statues back to their starting spots so you can try again. Getting it right gives 400 XP and opens the grate to a chest a few tiles to the north-east, holding a Mimic Heart, a Ruby, Gloves of Walking Stars and a Potion of Resurrection.

Three more chests in the woods need Lockpick Tools. One set lies in rubbish in the middle of the forest together with a Copper Ring, a Potion of Mana and a Bug Mandible. The northern chest holds the Recipe: Potion of Mindwell, an Amethyst and a Ring of Wisdom; the north-western one has a Caerlin Blue Bloom and two Solarblooms. The third, with a Ring of Poison Resistance and two Potions of Cure Poison, comes with a Viper, so don't open it straight after a fight.

The expedition camp sits in the south-west. The guard at the camp entrance wants to know why you are there: say you are looking for the expedition and use what the village told you about the priest Durok. If your first answer missed, 10 coins will also get you in. Inside, Brenna Ironsong smiths and trades. The camp's trader will also teach you to clear hard rubble and hand you a reinforced pickaxe; we cannot confirm that this is Brenna herself.

Captain Korr stands on the western edge of the camp with the quest The Last Forge Burns – he is preparing an assault on the dragon with explosive barrels. Before you commit, go into the ruins and talk to Durok. Ask him about the dragon and tell him about Korr's plan to take the Heart of the Mountain; Durok argues for sparing the wyrm. He also knows the way down, to the place called the Heartforge. The entrance under the ruins leads to Soulforge – Outer Halls, and a dwarf guard blocks it until Durok lets you descend. Whether Heartforge and Soulforge are the same place we cannot confirm.

Two entrances to the Sanctum of the Last Flame lead off the dragon's territory: the main cave lies in the safe zone in the middle, and Korr's warband uses a secret one further west. There is a resurrection shrine near the camp, and small pickings between the camp and the middle of the forest – a barrel with apples and bread, and rubbish with a Solarbloom and two lots of Wild Berries.