Blaise End

Blaise End is the 18th level in Dungeon Keeper.
In Blaise End, the Keeper is tasked with destroying the large and heavily-defended fortress built by the heroes of this land. Even approaching the place is dangerous; there are ambushes and traps secreted throughout the region, and troops will be pouring in from the surface.
"Grueling" may be the word that describes this realm best. It is Viscount Lamport and his minions' doing.
__TOC__
==Content==
Portal Speed: 800 Turns
===Creature Pool===
	   	20
	   	20
	   	15
	   	15
	   	10
	   	7
	   	5
	   	3
	   	3
===Specials===
*Steal Hero - in a small gatehouse north-of-center, heavily ambushed
*Steal Hero - west-of-center, through a hero-owned Hatchery, ambushed and guarded
*Resurrect Creature - east exterior path around the fortress, trapped, guarded, and ambushed
*Reveal Map - west exterior path around the fortress, trapped, guarded, and very heavily ambushed
*Increase Level - in a secret dirt pocket in the middle of the heroes' fortress
*Resurrect Creature - along path to White Dungeon Heart
*Locate Hidden World - behind a wall near the Gems (KeeperFX)
===Neutral Things===
* - east of Red Keeper, safe to excavate
* - center of map, surrounded by ambushes and cannot be claimed without Destroy Walls
* (level 1) x2 - water, east-northeast of Red Dungeon Heart
* x2 and (all level 2) - in unclaimed dirt along the center-west Gold Seam
* (level 1) x2 - in unclaimed dirt along the center-east Gold Seam
* (level 4) x3 - in a Prison, east end, main approach is heavily-ambushed
* stash of 13,750 - west end, guarded by level 5 Priestesses
* - in a 1-tile Workshop adjacent to hero-owned Hatchery, center-west
* spell & - mid-northeast, in a small room with hostile level 8 Fairies
*, , , and 20,500 gold - west exterior path around the fortress, guarded and ambushed
* (level 7) and stash of 6500 gold - northwest end of fortress in a hidden cave
* with stash of 9500 gold - west end of fortress, deep inside, guarded by ambush
* - deep in the heroes' fortress, east side
* level 5 - in a Prison within the fortress, west side
* Gem Seam - 5 slabs with twelve (!) open faces in the middle of the hero fortress
==Heroes==
There is a large number of heroes in residence and an absurd number of squads waiting to back them up in various circumstances. But what do you expect? This is level 18 of 20.
===Wanderers===
 	   	
:Large cavern, west side.
 	   	
:Circular cave surrounding center Portal, ready to kill anything that digs towards that portal.
 	   	
:Just beyond the center-west Hatchery, guarding a Steal Hero.
 	   	
:Mid-northeast, in a small room with a spell and a trap design.
 	   	
:Guarding gold stashed along the west exterior path around the fortress.
 	   	
:Guarding a Resurrect Creature at the end of the east exterior path around the fortress.
 	   	
:Treacherous Skeletons that will act docile until the Prison holding them is claimed or destroyed.
 	   	
:Fortress interior, guarding a fellow sentenced to prison for being an unclaimed Vampire.
 	   	
:These can be found patrolling various corridors within the heroes' fortress.
 	   	
:These can be found patrolling various corridors within the heroes' fortress.
 	   	
:These can be found patrolling various corridors within the heroes' fortress.
 	   	
:These can be found patrolling various corridors within the heroes' fortress.
 	   	
:These can be found patrolling various corridors within the heroes' fortress.
 	   	
:These can be found patrolling various corridors within the heroes' fortress.
===Groups===
A hidden counter is monitoring the gold seams on the map and counting how much gold is extracted. Note that a gold tile contains 1024 gold. Selling items like Doors, Traps, and Room slabs, or hauling gold pots to the Treasure Room, does not count. The player is counseled that the heroes are "asleep" at the moment. Mining is what wakes them up, or at least the first few groups.
* Party "ONE" with Level 2 Tunneller
:: - carrying 1950 gold
:: When the Keeper has mined 15,000 gold, this group is released from a hidden Hero Gate, nearer-northeast.
* Party "TWO" with Level 3 Tunneller
:: - 1950 gold
:: When the Keeper has mined 25,000 gold, this group is released from a hidden Hero Gate, northwest.
* Party "ONE" with Level 4 Tunneller
:: - 2000 gold
:: This party enters through the northwest Hero Gate, as above, 5000 Turns later.
* Party "TWO" with Level 5 Tunneller
:: - 1950 gold
:: When the Keeper has mined 35,000 gold, this group enters through the northwest Hero Gate.
* Party "THREE"
:: - 1750 gold
:: This party enters through the northwest Hero Gate, as above, 1500 Turns later.
* Dwarf avengers - When the Keeper has mined 35,000 gold and, thence, when every Mountain Dwarf on the map has fallen, a message pops up and a timer starts. After 5000 Turns (<5 minutes), these troops angrily swarm in through the Hero Gates. They won't come, though, if the Keeper has already reached the front doorstep of the White Dungeon.
:: Party "TROOPA" - - 1300 gold
:: Party "TROOPB" - - 2100 gold
:: Party "TROOPC" - - 3300 gold
:: Party "TROOPD" - - 4050 gold
:: Party "TROOPE" - - 9050 gold
:: Party "TROOPF" - - 10,800 gold
* Gatehouse battle - When the Keeper penetrates the small gatehouse north of the center Portal, a small army of Heroes tumbles into the center room (which holds a Steal Hero), as well as through Hero Gates behind the doors to the right and left.
:: Party "SIX" - - 5000 gold
:: Party "SEVEN" - - 6000 gold
:: Unpartied Heroes - - holding 500 gold each
* Unpartied Heroes
:: - 500 gold each
:: These Archers ambush the first creature to enter the White-owned Hatchery on the west side of the map.
* Unpartied Heroes
:: - 500 gold each
:: These Thieves leap into action when the player enters a White-owned chamber on the east side of the map, just off the Bile Demons' prison. Do not underestimate the attack rating of high-level Thieves, or their personal Invisibility spells! The first time you see them might be when they are pounding away at your Dungeon Heart.
:
* Lord of the Land - When the Keeper first approaches the White Dungeon, the Lord of the Land and his entourage enter at the White Dungeon Heart and just hold that area until it is breached.
:: Party "FINALONE" - - 8000 gold
:: Party "FINAL" - - 8400 gold
* Unpartied Heroes
:: - 500 gold each
:: These defenders crash in at places all around the Lava, as the Keeper first approaches the White Dungeon.
* Party "SEVEN"
:: - 6000 gold
:: A Braced Door tucked into the White Dungeon's outer wall, along the west exterior path to the Reveal Map special, holds behind it a few trap designs. 200 Turns after the Keeper sights this door, a copy of this party lands at its location and attacks.
* Unpartied Heroes
:: - 500 gold each
:: Beyond another Braced Door, a pack of dangerous Wizards ambushes the player on the approach to the Reveal Map special.
* Unpartied Heroes
:: - holding 500 gold each
:: Along the opposite east exterior path around the fortress, past a series of Boulder Traps, these Archers wait in ambush.
* Party "TWO" (bugged)
:: - 1700 gold
:: An instance of this basic party is supposed to respawn every 2500 Turns at the front door of the White Dungeon, from the moment the Keeper first approaches the White Dungeon until the White Heart is destroyed, disrupting the player's exploitation of the huge Gem cluster near there. Pointlessly, the script's caller is a nonexistent Green Keeper (PLAYER2). The spawn does not appear to work at all.
* Enemy Reinforcements - 10,000 Turns after the Lord of the Land appears, a message about reinforcements pops up, and these troops launch an attack through the old Hero Gates as well as from the fortress's main entrance.
:: Party "ONE" - - 1950 gold
:: Party "TWO" - - 1950 gold
:: Party "THREE" - - 1500 gold
:: Party "FOUR" - - 2750 gold
:: Party "FIVE" - - 6250 gold
* Unpartied Heroes
:: - 500 gold each
:: A final ambush on the path to the White Dungeon Heart, centered around a Resurrect Creature
==Red Keeper==
The Portal in Blaise End is like a slow drip that never stops. To reach the Creature Limit, it will generate creatures for 45 minutes straight. Regulate which creatures get in with a careful expansion schedule and restricted Lair space. There is surely not enough gold in the lower half of the map to pay 60 creatures' wages, or training for even a small fraction of that. The swarm of Dragons in the Creature Pool, in particular, seem like a financial death trap here.
One can also approach the Hero Parties with a managerial attitude. Monitor the Imps' activity throughout the region, both in mining and in claiming territory, to get only enough enemy activity that you can handle at a time. To pull Imps completely out of action for a while, drop them into the walled-off dirt in the dead center of the map, with that Portal, to idle and heal. Bullfrog Productions rewards a certain amount of bravery on this map. The heroes here have tens upon tens of thousands of gold, which can be yours if you let them attack, rather than wall-off and try to live off your Workshop.
The supplement to building up a substantial fighting force is, indeed, building up a substantial work force. Some of the champion teams triggered in Blaise End can take you by surprise and be head-and-shoulders above your own minions in combat ability. But perhaps they are not so mighty against a long corridor, a Magic Door, and a Boulder Trap.
==Messages==
;Briefing Text
:"The guardians of this realm are asleep at the moment. Attack them as soon as you can or they'll be breakfasted, wide awake and inherently more difficult to slaughter."
;Player mines 12,000 gold
:"If you should encounter hero patrols, ensure that none of their number escape. Otherwise your presence will be revealed and then you will be in trouble."
;Player has mined 35,000 gold, and White runs out of Mountain Dwarves
:"You're taking forever over this. Attack and destroy the heroes' stronghold soon, preferably before hell freezes over."
;10,000 Turns after the player has reached White Dungeon's front door
:"Enemy reinforcements have arrived. So what? Let's hear it for more killing."
==Sound Bytes==
==Trivia==
*The message chiding the player, "You're taking forever over this..." is probably not timed correctly. It triggers after killing every Dwarf on the map. It should trigger 5 minutes later, and only if, by that time, the player has not reached Action Point 1, the front door of the main White Dungeon. The idea being that the player didn't take some initiative after the invasion to claim territory and push onwards.
*The success of Blaise End's design, arguably the most challenging map and Dungeon Keeper at its finest, seems to have greatly influenced development of The Deeper Dungeons.
*This realm's outtro speech file makes more sense if renamed to BAD04.WAV to correspond with Flowerhat. Mistle's file, BAD19.WAV, makes more sense renamed to correspond with this one. These files are in the game subdirectory \SOUND\ATLAS\.
*Viscount Lamport is possibly a reference to Mark Lamport, one of the game's programmers.Dungeon Keeper Gold Manual, p. 81.
*Blaise End was originally an early version of the The Deeper Dungeons level Morkardar (the level documented on this page was originally level 19 Mistle). This level had a Locate Hidden World special. It is therefore likely that Bullfrog forgot to reintroduce the crate when that level was scrapped from the original campaign, leaving Secret 5 inaccessible and unused.
::
*The names for this level in other languages are as follows:
==Other versions==
On 19 May 1997 prototype, the hero room next to the left gold seam has a Guard Post with several Archers instead of a Hatchery, and the room next to the one on the right has two Guard Posts and several Thieves rather than Action Point 7. To the northwest of the hero base, there is a small patch of dirt path that isn't present in the retail version. The room with the Hero Dungeon Heart isn't filled with traps.
==Gallery==
Mmap00018.png|Keeper FX Map
MAP00018_Defense.jpg
MAP00018 WhiteDungeon.jpg
Blaise End prototype.png|Blaise End as it was in a prototype. It bears a striking resemblance to Morkardar
Blaise End prototype map.png|The map of that prototype version.
Mistle prototype Dungeon Keeper.png|Mistle in a prototype. It looks like Blaise End
==References==