The Ruins

**The Ruins** is a dungeon layer type in *Barony*, being the final layer type before fighting the first boss of the game, Baron Herx. It is located after The Sand Labyrinth, leading off to Hamlet and The Caves.

## Description

The Ruins have the largest expanses in the game, often providing some of the clearest sight lines and seldom having layouts with less than two blocks of space in its corridors. As such, ranged players and enemies benefit when fighting at range, as strafing is less likely to be interrupted by walls.

Gnomes readily populate the Ruins, with a few Goblins and Humans wandering about for good measure. Trolls are also found commonly walking around or asleep. Demons and Young Vampires also make their debut here, but are often less common than other enemy types.

## Secret Locations

Encircled by a pit, the portal to the secret locations of the Ruins put the player's collection of items to the test, in a difficult puzzle system. The player is first required to find the levers at the back of the structure to open the gates at the front.

Inside the cramped hallways is a trap, with a boulder trap to the left path and a spike trap to the right. Both paths lead to the main room, which is covered in lava and has the portal in the center. The left path requires the player to activate the trap and break it with a digging spell, and the right path would require a dropped item onto the spikes to activate and jam them before passing over. Using digging to access the center room is also an option, and a preferable one to the left path option most of the time.

### Mystic Library

*Main Article: Mystic Library*

The Mystic Library presents a large slew of magical tools for any player to effectively make use of, with a plethora of chests filled with scrolls, spellbooks, magic staffs and various magician equipment. Humans also patrol the floor, allowing any human characters to rally a new party on their adventures to the Baron. An artifact is also found here, the Mystic Blue Orb. The portal to the mystic library is found on the sixteenth level.

### The Underworld

*Main Article: Underworld*

Unlike most other secret areas, traveling to the Underworld will allow the player to diverge from the normal storyline of killing the Baron. Instead, if the player can levitate and find a ladder, they can travel to Hell and take on the secret boss Baphomet. The portal to the Underworld is found on the eighteenth level.

### Baron Herx

*Main Article: Baron Herx*

Found and fought at the twentieth level of the dungeon, Baron Herx is found inside his layer at the end of the Ruins, ready to fend off the character. The Baron holds several powerful tricks up his sleeves, with a barrage of lightning bolts for a main attack, a mass of summons, and darkening the arena when he is below half health, his battle helps separate the ill-prepared from the better player. After defeat, the player will be able to escape the dungeon, back to Hamlet.

## Traps

Main Article: Magic Trap

Akin to the Arrow Trap, the Magic Trap continuously spews out a single type of magic spell from one of its four faces. The way these traps fire is so that they release a single magic bolt in one direction, before firing another bolt at the next exposed face. The magic cast by these traps varies, often casting either a damaging spell or a status inflicting spell.