YNYS WITRIN – Episode 1

 

Level by Monika Kunze (Miss Kroft)

 

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, to supplement the outline provided years ago by Monika Pietsch (and which follows this walkthrough).

 

Geographical information (from an online resource):  Glastonbury, a small town in Somerset [a county in SW England], is surrounded by a grouping of hills. The tallest of these hills is known as the Tor, which happens to have an old stone tower on the very top which was once a church dedicated to the archangel Michael. Close to the Tor is Chalice Hill. Wearyall Hill is a long, narrow ridge that points towards Bristol Channel. Finally, there's Windmill Hill which faces the cathedral city of Wells and just below are the ruins of the medieval abbey. Before the land was drained for farmland in later Christian times, the hills around Glastonbury appeared as islands from the West. Today's river Brue was once the deepest channel in the shallow swamps and allowed boats to pass. The ancient name for the Tor was Ynys Witrin, which means "the Island of Glass." But this "island" is more widely known from Celtic lore as Avalon, the Apple-place and the isle of enchantment.

After two flybys (the first of which introduces the level and its builder, the second of which takes you through a castle area), run W toward a stone building surrounded by a lava moat and towering ramparts. (There is Revolver Ammo on the highest hill in the beginning area.)  Use the outcropping to jump over to a block against the castle wall and pick up the flares.  Jump back to the bank and follow the uneven terrain to find a wall switch near the SE corner.  Pull it down, reverse roll and run across to the N wall near the lava's edge.  Locate the crawl space and go inside.  Follow until you can see two flame tiles ahead.  Fortunately, the flames go out as you approach them and remain extinguished as you pass them.  Emerge inside the stone building.

 

Go W to find stairs leading up and stairs leading down.  Go up the stairs and find a closed gate requiring an artifact you don't yet have.  Loop around to the right and use the block steps to pull up to a second story.  Go halfway across the nearer stone bridge to alert a jackal, then do the same thing by going halfway across the other bridge at the S end of the room.  You can use the gap in the S wall to shimmy from the SE corner all the way across the room and drop down past the flame burner, but there's a closed gate at the end of the passage.  Therefore, leave this area, go back down the stairs and continue S down the other set of stairs until you reach a lake.

 

Jump into the water and swim down E under the arch into an area with man-made pillars and a closed gate at the end.  Pick up the large medipack beneath the gate and return to the lake.  Swim around to your left and locate a rock formation where you can pull out.  Climb up into the opening and hop down inside.  Follow the dark passage E, vault up into the adjacent opening to your right and take a running jump SE to an outdoor ledge.  Activate the jump switch there (it opens the closed underwater gate, but you won't go back there until much later) and take a running jump NW to the former ledge.  Hop down into the dark passage, turn right and save your game.  Slide down the center of the slope and jump off near the bottom to grab the pole.  If you miss, you'll be skewered by spikes. 

 

Slide down to the floor and walk NW around the corner and through the spike field, losing some health in the process, and pull the chain to open the E gate.  Walk there, through two spike fields this time, and pick up the REVOLVER in the alcove.  Walk once more through the spikes to the pole, climb up facing N and  back flip into a ramped passage.  No boulder trap here, so run to the top and pull up to your right into another ramped passage leading down to the lake.  This passage is boulder trapped, but you have plenty of time to run forward and jump off to your right into the water as soon as you feel the vibrations of the activated boulder.  At some point during the process, you'll have alerted a pair of bats, so dispose of them whenever they should appear.

 

Swim W, then N, and pull out of the water to your left.  Follow the path to an apparent dead end and pull up to your left.  Step forward and pull up still higher, onto a high and narrow ledge overlooking the stone building and the lake.  Face in the other direction and take a running jump W over the gap.  After the long flyby through the next area, pick up the small medipack at your feet and drop down into the high valley the overlooks the castle complex.  Take a running jump SW to the broken bridge and safety drop to the ground.  Locate the slightly raised square structure W and jump into the central water hole.  Swim down the long shaft and along the passage until you come to a ceiling open just around the first corner.  Pull out here and don't shoot the vases yet.  Use the S reach-in switch to open a gate in the castle complex.  Go back now and shoot the vases, pick up the flares and the LASER SIGHT, and avoid the flaming sections as you jump back into the water and continue S along the passage.

 

Swim up the long shaft at the end and pull out into a room with an empty vase and two bats.  Go up the stairs and pull up into the ceiling opening at the NW corner.  The vases here are also empty.  Shoot the jackal coming down the SE stairway and go where it came from.  In the hallway above you're greeted by another jackal, and as you approach the E opening three more jackals come at you.  After they're all dispatched, step forward into a room with a deep central pit.  Go to the NE end and jump to one of the blocks against the E wall.  Climb down the blocks to the floor of the pit, noting that you can get back up the same way (starting at the SE corner).  Pick up the flares underneath the W crawl space, then pull up into the crawl space and follow to a wood-framed passage.  The way E is blocked by flame burners, and if you walk in that direction you'll activate a spike ball.  Therefore, be prepared to get into the S floor crawl space very quickly before the spike ball reaches you. 

 

As soon as you can stand up, don't try to jump over the pit in front of you.  Instead, jump up to grab the monkey bars, and monkey swing forward as you trigger two separate boulder traps.  Drop down at the end, step forward and pull up into a crawl space.  Lower Lara down into a beautiful adjacent room for the only SECRET in this level (according to the builder's readme).   However, you've got quite a bit of work to do before you can reap all the benefits of finding your way here.

 

Jump into the water and swim into the opening in the W wall.  Turn left and pull out through the ceiling hole in the SW corner.  Go between the two pillars in the S wall and pull up onto the one to your left.  Take a rolling back flip to land on the other slope facing backwards.  Slide down and grab the edge.  Make sure you're at the center of the slope, then pull up and take a rolling back flip to activate the jump switch in the N wall.  As you drop down, a protective grate comes between you and the deadly lava.  Jump back into the water and note that spike traps have been activated near the opening in the N wall.  Swim carefully past them into the next room.  Pull down the ceiling switch and swim past the spikes and left into the main pool. 

 

A block has risen in the pool, so climb out onto it and use the ladder to access the upper floor.  Run around this area while shooting six jackals and five bats (at least, that's how many I counted), then shoot the vases for revolver ammo (W wall), the SHOTGUN (NE corner), shotgun ammo and large medipack (SE corner).  

 

Jump back into the pool, pull out E and hop onto the sloped ledge at the SE corner.  Jump to the crawl space and pull inside.  Return to the adjacent passage.  The monkey bars are too high to reach from here, so take standing jumps over the lava traps.  Go through the crawl space at the end to find yourself back in the wood-framed passage.  Take standing jumps over the flame burners (standing at least a step back from each burner) to find a small medipack at the top of the spike ball slope.  Go back over the burners and enter the N crawl space to your right.  Drop back down into the moss-covered pit, reverse roll and run to the NE corner.  Use the blocks to climb to the base of a ladder in the E wall.  Climb up the ladder, shift right and drop down onto the ledge.  Run around to the other end and take a running jump W to the next ledge.  Turn to your left and activate the low jump switch to drop a rope near the ladder.

 

Go back the other way and take a standing jump to grab the rope.  Swing forward and jump off to land on the N ledge in front of the grated archway.  Take a running jump W and grab the lower pillar, pull up and enter the open archway to your right.  Jump to the roof of the square central structure (here Lara can run jump to another adjacent roof for Shotgun Ammo. Of course, this will cause another retracing back to the rope again. Also, a new warthog appears down on the ground.) Hop forward into the water.  Pull out onto the E ledge and pull down the wall switch to drain the area.  A cut scene shows you where the water has gone.  Climb down the ladder, jump into the water outside and enter the opening in the E wall.  Pick up the GUARDIAN KEY and swim back out. 

 

Pull out onto the mossy bank and enter the nearby building to the N.  Shoot the wart hog along the way if you see it roaming about.  Inside the building, locate the ladder in the W wall and take an angled jump over the burner tile to grab it.  Climb the ladder and back flip near the top onto a crate.  Monkey swing across the room and release to activate the jump switch in the N wall.  This is tricky for some reason, as Lara wants to veer to the right when you reach the wall.  Therefore, turn slightly to the left just before you get there, and align as necessary before releasing.  Shoot the bat while waiting for the brief earthquake to subside. 

 

Exit this building and go across the courtyard to the NW opening.  The gate inside is now open, so drop down into the opening and crawl inside the floor passage.  When you're able to stand up, jump W from ledge to ledge, and before jumping to the ladder combine your laser sight with the revolver and ready it for action.  Take a running or standing jump and grab the ladder, climb up and when Lara's feet reach the top edge of the dark wall pattern, take a rolling back flip and grab the spike-trapped ledge.  Pull up, draw the revolver and shoot the brass ball in the distance before the cascading spikes reach you.  The whole row of spikes is now disabled, so run forward and take the CROWBAR from the plinth.  Go back and use the ladder to climb all the way down to the rocky floor.

 

Take standing jumps E over the lava pits and watch out for dart traps in the side passages.  Turn left at the end and pry the GOLDEN STAR off the wall.  Go back to the ladder, climb up until Lara's hands are even with the bottom edge of the dark wall pattern, and back flip to the ledge.  Turn around and jump the ledges back to the E crawl space.  Crawl through and pull out to your right.  Return to the courtyard and go up the ramp in the SW corner.  When you reach the highest point next to the S wall, turn to your left and pull up onto the bridge fragment.  Make your way across N, jumping (and grabbing) as necessary, and jump NE near the end to the moss-covered valley.  Make your way back to the lake surrounding the stone building and jump into the water. 

 

Swim down and through the E archway where you saw the man-made pillars earlier.  Swim through the open gateway in the far E wall and note more pillars.  Avoid the side alcoves, as two of them are spike-trapped (and none of them contain anything of interest anyway), and swim down through the narrow opening in the NE corner.  Follow the passage to a wood-lined shaft and swim up.  Pull out E and cross over to the S side of the next area by triggering four spike balls on four separate ramps.  They're slow and ponderous, however, so you'll have no difficulty doing this.  After triggering the fourth one, take a standing jump S over the lava trench, holding down the action key so you won't bump your head in the opening, and avoid the slicer dicer and lava pits as you step into the next room.

 

Go straight across to the S wall, turn to your right and jump up to grab the high W ledge.  Pull up and note the closed gate in the wall high up and ahead.  Turn left and use the ladder to climb still higher.  Shift left and drop down onto the ledge.  Climb the E block and jump to the next higher block.  Push the floor lever to open that gate in the W wall behind you (and expose a brass ball), turn around and make your way back.  Before climbing back down the ladder, shoot the brass ball.  When you reach the floor, go across the room to find that a gate in the NE corner is now open.  Go inside and jump into the water.  Locate the ceiling switch in the SW alcove and pull it down to open the S gate.  Pull up into the passage and follow to a crawl space.  Crawl forward and pause to pick up the shotgun ammo, the revolver ammo and the large medipack. 

 

There's nothing else to do here, so get back into the water, pull out W and go to the entrance where you hopped in over the lava trench.  The wall overhead has a climbing surface, so jump until Lara grabs it, then climb up to the high ledge.  You now have to play chicken with a spike ball, so take a running jump SE to the ledge jutting out of the wall.  This will trigger the spike ball, so hop back and grab the edge while the spike ball rolls harmlessly by you.  Pull up and take a running jump SW to a ledge floating in mid-air.  You now need to jump into the W passage, but it's easy to miss and slide down.  To give yourself a little extra running room, hang from the W end of the floating ledge, pull up, reverse roll, wait for the slicer dicer to go by, then take a running jump (without grab) into the passage, keeping the up arrow key depressed.  You should make it on the first try.

 

Push the floor lever, reverse roll and slide down the ramp after the slicer dicer has gone by.  There's now an opening in the floor in the center of the room, between the two slicer dicer tracks, so hop down and locate the second GOLDEN STAR.  NOTE:  Due to a possible bug, do not save your game while you're down here.  Otherwise, you may not be able to get back out.  Pull out W when you can safely do so, using only the action and up arrow keys, and exit this room N.  Hop over the lava trench and get back to the NW water hole.  Jump in and swim all the way back to the lake.  Loop around to the right, surface and pull out E into the wide stairway.  Go up the stairs and shoot the jackal that lopes down to meet you.  Continue up the N stairs and insert the Guardian Key in the receptacle to open the gate above you.

 

Hop back once, then hop forward into the open gateway.  Avoid the lava squares while jumping across to the N wall for some flares.  Enter the E and W passages and insert a Golden Star in each one.  Use one of the squares on either side of the W passage inside of trying to jump straight inside, due to the low ceiling.  When you insert the second Golden Star, a flyby shows that the nearby gate I pointed out much earlier is now open.  Make your way carefully to the S exit, hop down and climb the blocks ahead to the second story.  Cross one of the stone bridges and go to the SE corner.  Jump up to grab the crack in the S wall and shimmy right as far as you can go.  Release to drop down onto a corner of the burner tile.  Side flip right to safety, then turn right and run through the open gateway.  Turn right and slide down the long slope to end the level.

 

And now, here is the outline contributed by Monika Pietsch:

 

 

 

 

 

Ynys Witrin
Monika Kunze / Miss Kroft

This is an unauthorised walkthrough by Monika Pietsch.
It has all the important pick-ups and items mentioned.
It will not contain all pick-ups, all enemies and maybe not all the secrets.
This walkthrough is meant as a guideline to get you to the end of the level, even so there might be other ways too.

Walkthrough

The level starts with an introduction with camera flyer and music.
Lara is in a lilac garden with a lake of lava. Jump over to one block and pick up the flares. Find the switch on the south side. Then make your way to the north side and go through a crawlspace. The two fires will stop when crawling along. Lara comes to the entrance of a building.
The stairs to the right lead to a closed metal door and a keyhole for a Guardian Key.
The stairs to the left lead to a lake. There is an underwater room with columns and a large medic-pack. The metal door is closed.
Swim out again and round the corner. Climb out. Watch out for 2 bats. Jump over to the ledge on the right side and pull the wall switch.
Jump back and slide down the slope and jump grab the pole. Go down to the bottom and on one side passed the spikes is a rope to pull and on the other side behind the spikes is the Revolver. (You have to walk through the spikes loosing some health). Use the pole and climb up and back flip in to the opening.
In the next passage you better run and jump at the end into the water, because a spiky boulder comes rolling down.
Swim to the now left side of the lake. Get out of the water and climb up. Pick up a small pack-pack.
You come to a yard with a waterhole, closed doors, a crawlspace you can’t get into and so on.
Go down the waterhole and swim not far and there is an opening. Get out and you are in a red room. The niche switch opens a door and a swine comes out. There are 5 vases. When you shoot them, 2 will light up a fire on the floor and with the others you get the Lasersight and flares.
Go into the water again and swim on. You come to a room with a chair. The vases contain nothing. 2 bats fly in. Use the stairs and you come to a green room. Kill a dog.
In the next room (through the windows you can look into the yard) comes 1 dog and near the door 3 dogs at once.
Now you are in a place where you can look down into a green yard.
The vases are empty. Jump to a brown block. Make you way down into the pit. Go into the opening. You will find a Secret, the Shotgun and goodies there. You meet dogs and bats. Getting the secret is not an easy task. When you leave again go back on the brown block. Use the climbable wall to reach the higher ledge. Use a wall switch and a rope appears. Use it to swing over and leave through a window. Jump over to a square building and jump into the water.
Pull a switch and the water will go away. A door opens to let Lara out. The water has gone and filled the place where a crawling space is. Swim in and get the Guardian Key. When you leave the water kill the swine.
Go into the building it came from. Jump to grab the ladder over the fire.
Climb up, back flip and use the monkey bar to swing to the high up wall switch. You hear a rumble. The metal gate on the north side is open now.
Go in and crawl and then make your way to the ladder. Combine the revolver with the Lasersight. Climb up and twist jump, pull the revolver and shoot the yellow ball to stop the spikes (is a bit tricky). You find the Crowbar at the end of the passage.
Make your way down to the bottom and jump over the lava. There are also poison traps.
Round the corner there is a Golden Star.
When you are in the yard again use the broken bridge to leave this area.
Now go to the underwater room with columns. The metal door you have opened quite a while ago with a wall switch. Swim through. When you get out of the water you have to avoid 5 spiky boulders in a row and a gap with lava.
You enter a room with lava pits and a rotating “slicer dicer”.
Cross the room climb up using a ladder. Up there is a switch. Push it and a metal door will open. Use revolver and Lasersight to shoot the ball. This opens a door down below. Go there. In the water is a ceiling switch. Pull it and climb into the opened door.
Pick up some shotgun shells, wideshot shells and a large pack-pack.
Then try and grab the climbable wall over the entrance (take one step backwards and jump up till Lara grabs the wall) and get up. Jump over to the ledge with a spiky boulder. Drop grab on the side and let the boulder run by. You can also try and outrun and jump the boulder.
Jump over to the floating ledge and from there with a long running jump into the niche.
Push the switch, slide down into a hole where the lava just disappeared and get
the 2. Golden Star.
Leave this area via the water room with the columns and go up the stairs. Eliminate a dog. Now you can use the Guardian Key. You enter a room with lava. This is the place to use the 2 Golden Stars. Pick up some flares too.
Climb up the blocks to get into a room with 2 bridges. Cross the first one, kill a dog.
When you step onto the second bridge a fire will light up and prevent you from going on, so don’t do it.
Look for a crevice in the wall and transverse to the right. Drop on the other side and when you slide down the level is finished.

 

Addendum by Lindén: I just want to inform a bug in the place where the walkie says:

Push the switch, slide down into a hole where the lava just disappeared and get
the 2. Golden Star.

DO NOT SAVE, when you are in that hole picking up the 2nd star, I just did that and couldn't get out of the hole, because the lava texture was back and Lara just didn't go through it.