Elemental Planes

👉 The Elemental Planes form the perilous endgame sequence of GnollHack, a final gauntlet leading to ascension.

Location: Accessed via the staircase up on dungeon level 1 after obtaining the Amulet of Yendor. Consists of 5 levels.

After securing the Amulet of Yendor from Moloch's Sanctum and performing the invocation, players must ascend back up through the dungeon to level 1 and take the staircase up.

🪜 The Sequence

The player must traverse five distinct planes in strict order:

1. Plane of Earth
2. Plane of Air
3. Plane of Fire
4. Plane of Water
5. The Astral Plane

🪨 Plane of Earth

👉 A claustrophobic realm of solid rock where players must dig their way forward.

Feature	Details
Environment	Teleportation is disabled, visibility is reduced, and digging down is impossible.
Layout	Several cavernous pockets separated by solid, diggable rock. Uses the Gnomish Mines tileset.
Exit	A magic portal randomly hidden within the solid rock, leading to the Plane of Air.

Inhabitants and Items

• Notable Encounters:
  • An Elvenking and a Minotaur.
  • A Dwarf king equipped with a Dwarvish axe, Dwarvish helm, Dwarvish roundshield, Dwarvish mithril-coat, a Pick-axe, and a Scroll of magic mapping.
  • Two Barbed devils, one carrying a Wand of digging and the other a Scroll of magic mapping.
• Common Monsters:
  • Dominated by Earth elemental and Elder earth elemental.
  • Also features Rock troll, Stone giant, Stone golem, Umbral hulk, Dust vortex, Pit viper, and scorpions.

💨 Plane of Air

👉 A vast, gravity-free expanse of clouds filled with fast-moving flying entities.

Feature	Details
Environment	Teleportation is disabled, visibility is reduced, and digging down is impossible. There is no gravity, making levitation or flying mandatory.
Layout	An open expanse consisting entirely of clouds. The player arrives on the left side of the map.
Exit	A magic portal randomly placed on the right side of the map, leading to the Plane of Fire.

Inhabitants

• Monsters:
  • Dominated by Air elemental and Elder air elemental.
  • Also features Floating eye, Yellow light, Couatl, dragons, Jabberwock, Djinni, Fog cloud, Energy vortex, and Steam vortex.

🔥 Plane of Fire

👉 A searing, volcanic landscape with flowing lava lakes and hidden traps.

Feature	Details
Environment	Teleportation is disabled, visibility is reduced, and digging down is impossible.
Layout	A wide-open space with numerous lava lakes and exactly 40 randomly placed fire traps.
Exit	A magic portal randomly placed anywhere on the map, leading to the Plane of Water.

Inhabitants

• Monsters:
  • Dominated by Fire elemental and Elder fire elemental.
  • Also features Red dragon, Balor, Fire giant, Barbed devil, Hell hound, Stone golem, Pit fiend, Pit viper, Salamander, Dust vortex, Fire vortex, and Steam vortex.

💧 Plane of Water

👉 A submerged ocean realm where players and sea creatures reside inside shifting air bubbles.

Feature	Details
Environment	Teleportation is disabled, visibility is reduced, and digging down is impossible.
Layout	A fully submerged level filled with water. The player and monsters reside inside shifting air bubbles. Movement outside bubbles causes drowning unless the player has magical breathing.
Exit	A magic portal located in an air bubble on the right side of the level, leading to The Astral Plane.

Inhabitants

• Monsters:
  • Dominated by Water elemental and Elder water elemental.
  • Also features Giant eel, Electric eel, Kraken, Shark, Piranha, and Jellyfish.

🌌 The Astral Plane

To win the game, you must find the high altar belonging to your god and offer the Amulet of Yendor.

Feature	Details
Environment	Teleportation, magic mapping, digging, and passing through walls are completely disabled. Visibility is reduced.
Layout	Three lit courts containing High Altars (one Lawful, one Neutral, and one Chaotic). The alignments of the shrines are randomly shuffled every game.
Special Generation	There is a high chance for the bottom-center area to generate additional rooms containing extra angels and monsters.

Inhabitants and Items

• Notable Encounters:
  • The three Riders guard the shrine entrances (their locations are randomly shuffled): Death, Famine, and Pestilence.
  • A guaranteed Magic chest spawns in the center area.
  • Aligned priests and angels guard the courts and shrines.
• Common Monsters:
  • Angels, liches, vampires, and dragons.