Hub 1: Winnowing Hall

The Winnowing Hall is the first level in Hexen, the Tutorial, so to speak. Although it is part of the Seven Portals hub, you cannot return to it once you have left.

Walkthrough
From the start of the level, go forward through the door and into a room with a barred teleporter in the center. Be aware that there are two traps in this room. One is triggered when you go near the carvings of Korax' face in the south of the room. They will spin around and shoot lava balls if you go close enough to pick up the items there. The other trap is activated when you step onto the central platform where the teleporter is. This trap opens four chambers containing Ettins. There are also several alcoves with stained glass panels. Go into the western alcove and smash the northernmost glass panel there, revealing a hidden stairway. Go down the stairs and you will see a switch appear to your left. Pull it and a series of four doors will slide open. Go up the passage they reveal into another room. Some of the walls in this room will lower revealing more Ettins. There is also a switch next to the glass panels. Pull it and a platform with the Emerald Key lowers. When you take the key, the four doors in the stairway will begin opening and closing in succession. You must run through at the right time or you will be crushed between the doors.

Go back up the stairs and leave the building, heading southeast to a locked door. The Emerald Key unlocks it and you may proceed. There will be a button straight ahead. Push it and the stone door to your right will open. Go through that door and up some stairs to a rampart. Another button will appear. Push it and head back down the stairs and to the south through the newly opened door. You will see a bell tower, but its door is locked. There is a small cave to your right which you must enter to find the Silver Key. When you take the Silver Key, sections of the cave passage will begin gnashing against each other. Again, you must run through with the right timing or be crushed. Enter the bell tower and climb to the top of the stairs. Hit the bell with your weapon and it will begin ringing. Now head back down the stairs and return to the teleporter room. The teleporter is now unbarred and you may pass through it. When you do, you will see a red portal which you may walk through to exit this level and go to the first hub.

Trivia

 * All of the stained glass windows in this level can be broken. Many of them are concealing items.
 * If you are playing as the Mage, you do not need to get the Silver Key in order to complete the level. When you get to the bell tower, just aim at the bell through the window and shoot it with your wand to ring it.
 * In the first indoor room, once you release the ettins, you can kill them by triggering the korax heads and running outside.
 * You can also hide inside the small rooms that they are held in, you will not be trapped.

Secrets

 * In the room with the emerald key you can kill the ettin without getting hurt by breaking the window in the back and hiding inside.
 * In that same room, when playing deathmatch, there is a hidden door on the south side, behind it is a teleport leading to an icon of the defender.
 * Just after using the emerald key, if you go up the steps and turn around there are stone ledges against the wall that can be jumped up to a platinum helmet.
 * You can kill the ettin in the room with the silver key by standing on the opposite side of the stalagmites and hitting them. With the Fighter and Cleric classes, as long as they are within melee range, this is easy to do.  However, with the Mage class, you will have to position yourself so that the wand attack goes through (there is only one spot where this can occur).