Darkforge is an important location in the game. It is not a location for low level PCs. The entrance to Darkforge is described as "A long and non-descript tunnel." The first level of the dungeon is not particularly dangerous except for the presence of a steel golem guarding the down staircase. Steel golems are very tough monsters for a mid-level PC. If the PC has trouble with the steel golem guarding the down staircase, flee. There are many more guarding Darkforge itself. Upon entering Darkforge, the message "You smell the reek of sulphur, steel and oil." is generated. The steel golems that guard Darkforge are unlife and thus immune to Mindcraft. They are vulnerable to missiles of construct slaying, but it is almost unheard of to find enough such ammo to take them all out by this point in the game. They are vulnerable to Lightning, from the spell or wand, although it will take many castings or charges to kill all of them. Steel golems will shrug off many lightning attacks, but can eventually be killed this way. They breathe fire, so both the PC and his equipment need to be protected from fire. Many players will attempt Darkforge just before assaulting the Tower of Eternal Flames, in order to determine whether their PC has a good chance in the ToEF.
Darkforge is a very good way of gaining experience levels for PCs that can deal with the steel golems. A typical non-troll PC that manages to clear Darkforge of the initially generated steel golems will gain at least five experience levels - very useful when about to attempt the ToEF.
Here is an ASCII map of Darkforge. Note the caches of weapons, armor (it is possible to obtain artifact weapons and armor from these rooms) and gold, the room containing pools (which are not always generated in this pattern), the hidden room containing the Crown of Science (the lone [ ), the shortcut to the lower CoC and the nine forges.
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2.18.1 Kherab
Kherab is the dwarven artificer found in Darkforge. He is presumably the creator of the steel golems, steel horrors and animated armors found in Darkforge. He is quite tough, with hitpoints numbering in the hundreds and a powerful melee attack. He holds two items necessary for smithing: a hammer and an anvil. He is the source of two quests outlined below.
2.18.2 Kherab's quests and their rewards
Kherab is the source of two chaotic quests. The first is to kill Guth'Alak, the druid found in Terinyo. This of course removes Guth'Alak as a source of potions of cure corruption and as the source of the Unicorn quest. Depending on how it is accomplished, the entire village of Terinyo may become hostile as well. If this happens, it may destroy any chance the PC has to obtain the TotRR. The reward for this quest is the corrupting artifact amulet of raw steel. The second quest is to kill Thrundarr, the village elder in Dwarftown. This can have all sorts of negative effects as well, including turning all of Dwarftown hostile and the killing of the demented ratling. The reward for this quest is the corrupting shield of raw steel.
The quest rewards are useful only because they are artifacts. They can be fed to the demented ratling, for instance. They are too corrupting to be useful otherwise. These "rewards" are not really rewards. Kherab is an evil chaotic being and wants the PC dead. Giving away corrupting artifacts is his way of trying to accomplish this.