Tibia's next major update, Beta 6.1, launched on December 23rd, 2000, tackling the largest problem identified in "Tibia's greatest problems" poll, the lack of content. With this update several new areas would be launched to fill out some of the large empty map. Kazordoon the new major city would fill up a huge area in the center of the map. Fermor Hills would be a new hunting area just north of the massive city. Ulderek's Rock would be a really good hunting spot far east on the map. Greenclaw swamps would expand the troll area just before Kazordoon, expanding the dungeons available to hunt there. Jakundaf desert would be the new subterranean area south of Kazordoon, offering more caves to explore and a quest to solve. Also with the volume of new players flocking to Tibia, Rook was now overcrowded to the point where an expansion was needed, which launched this update.
Undeniably the largest addition this update was Kazordoon, the new dwarven style city which included Tibia's third depot. You might be interested to know that though Kazordoon was made by Knightmare (KM), it was originally the task of another player who abandoned the project due to the difficulty of the map tool. Players originally called the mountain The Big Old One, but KM officially named it Kazordoon, which according to him, the name "Kazordoon", was only secondarily based on Tolkien's dwarven mine (Khazad-dum), "while in fact the name was largely based on Brigadoon, as a symbol for a hidden city from a great war."
This city could be found deep inside the new giant mountain, which replaced the lonely dragon spawn north of Orc Bridge (now called Dwarf Bridge) in the center of the map. After the initial designer couldn't continue, KM was chosen to finish the project as he had gained a lot of valuable experience while making his first areas; PoH and Rook. CIP's only direction of what to make was that it had to be a hidden town. Reportedly CIP didn't like the hidden town KM devised, as they had expected a much smaller, easy to access town, and which contained more hunting grounds. None of these ideas were discussed with KM so he made the town in the way he imagined it. Despite the misgiving, KM managed to convince CIP to accept his creation as is.
This massive sprawling mountain maintained the same simple route to Carlin. Instead of crossing across a grassy plain and dodging the Dragon lair, you would instead traverse through a narrow path in the mountain. Unfortunately this narrow path was an excellent choke point which PKs exploited and with a protection zone so far away, they often were successful.
Those who originally came to the area for the Dragon would still find the green beast as he was shuffled over to the east. You could visit him by dropping down the hidden hole under a tree just east of the path. A short travel through the tunnel to the surface would place you just under a hidden hole by a tree on the other side. This area was a wide path cut into the mountain and led to the lair. The Dragon generally stayed at the top of the tunnel which was a lava lined path that led east to the grassy surface on the east side of the mountain. If you wanted to head to Orc Fort you would have to pass this dragon every time which could be an issue for lower level players.
The Dragon was not the only creature to be moved, the wolves which had been due west of the bridge, were now placed inside the mountain's winding path. Anyone wishing to explore the depth of Kazordoon would have to head east at the debris field just off the narrow path. This path was well hidden when it was first introduced and you had to travel diagonally which was rarely used mechanic at the time. A less hidden path to the east also existed which led to a small open area with some snakes and a small hole blocked by stalactites. The small lake east of here had several stones on the south side which visually looked like it could prevent travel to the other side but if you hugged the mountain you could squeeze around them. On the other side was a grassy area and I think a mill. Just north of this was an interesting and unique feature in Tibia, the Kazordoon Elevator. This neat contraption was could be activated by a floor switch which you could stand on, and a leaver beside moved you up or down the mountain. If you stood on the square and flipped the leaver you would be teleported to the wheat field at the top of the Big Old One. The same switch could be found on the top side and also to the west was an open hole where you could manually descend the mountain several floors.
Heading west along the winding path would lead you to a pack of wolves. From here you could head south which would bring you to the small stream that separated the PoH continent from the upper continent. Though not very exciting, this area held a secret if you brought parcels with you (the levitate spell didn't exist). Stacking parcels atop one another along the wall would allow you to climb the mountain, which had a hidden room inside. You would need to stack parcels several times to get to the room, which held a coffin. This was supposed to be Durin's tomb, the god that the dwarves worshiped. Later this version the room would be converted into the Paradox tower access area, but for now it was a fun out of the way spot that was not well known. PKs were known to hide up the mountain once they killed someone as it was not well known and they could easily trap other victims who tried to get to them by jumping down and taking a parcel so they couldn't get back down.
If you continued west instead of south from the wolves, you would find a rope up spot and a loose stone pile on a muddy floor. The lose stone pile could be shoveled for a small path with a couple of Rots. Roping yourself out of the path led you to the valley on the other side, called Mad Mage Valley. No mines or even a mage of any degree of sanity existed yet, but you could find some wolves and a deadly hunter tucked away up one of the grassy fingers. There was no other way to access this area and it was pretty far out of the way so the far western tip of the land became an important training camp. Sometimes you would find a parcel settlement here too.
To continue to Kaz you instead used the rope up hole which led to a small narrow path with spiders. At the end you could drop down to the surface, and would face a grassy area with many tress and two paths. The path to the east had another rope spot which led to a Beholder and further back in the cave a chest containing 39 gold, a blank rune, and a sword. If you continued north, you would find yourself facing a huge statue which guarded the way into Kazordoon.
Called the Colossus, KM had designed this large structure to be an impressive monument for players, but this effect wasn't really apparent walking up to it due to how the game hid the upper layers of the map. Building something impressive in these early days was a challenge as there was only so many graphics to choose from. The Colossus looked like some small guard rooms with more structure built on top and ladders leading into the unknown. More interest was paid to where those ladders went then to what the statue looked like. Over a decade later during the 2013 test server players were allowed inside the statue and finally were able to see what it looked like. As creative as it was for the time, I am glad CIP decided to make custom graphics for it and provide a lookout point to see it in its new beauty.
Just a screen north of the statue was a staircase that led to a large room with a blackboard on the north wall welcoming you to Kaz. The real sight of Kaz would begin by entering the stairs down to main entrance. Flanked by lava pools, a massive wooden drawbridge sprawled across the hot surface, leading you deeper inside. This was the real entrance to Kaz and it was a mighty sight.
The very long entrance led you to a middle platform made up of smaller guard towers which were inaccessible to players. Walking under these towers the player could catch their first glimpse of the new dwarven monsters that had been added. More ladders existed inside these towers and locked doors teased the player about what possibilities they might find inside this city.
To the south along the path was a staircase that led in both directions, but was entirely walled in with no door. Further south led you to two sets of staircases. The first staircase led down to the next level which took you towards town. The second further staircase led down many flights of stairs in a small tower like rooms open to an area below. Upon coming to end, which was the lowest map layer, you would see a huge lava pool and a smaller replica of the front entrance in reverse with drawbridges placed over lava. The doors to this area would likely be locked, requiring a key to enter. This was known as Dwacatra, the Dwarven Prison.
Taking the first stairs at the entrance hall led you north to a split path. Three rats spawned in this area providing a nuisance as they blocked players and attacked while they decided which path to take.
Choosing to go east led to the lower part of the walled off stairs you encountered on the way in, but still had no way to enter. Stairs leading downwards encouraged further exploration. Further down the path there was a staircase leading down which you could descend down two flights of stairs to a long hallway and a large room with tons of switches. NPC Talphion Sparkbender was in the middle of this contraption but had a really hard time understanding your comments. It is fortunate that Tibia lacked sound as the room would otherwise have been incredibly noisy as this contraction was supposed to be an early prototype for a clock for the Colossus statue outside. I don't know of anyone who realized this at the time and the various switches only invited curiosity as they could be flipped with no results. The NPC would also tell you about the Technomancer guild, though it was difficult to get answers out of him due to his misunderstanding of every question you asked him.
If you headed north instead of going down you find the Mushroomfarms Brewery, the source of Kaz's famous beer. Players could overlook the gangways to the mushrooms below but could not access this area without being crafty. Though possibly accessible at this time, players would only discover later that you could get to these mushrooms. If you dragged yourself diagonally on stacked parcels at a certain spot where the railing couldn't be programmed to, you would end up down below. There was many rare mushrooms here, though there doesn't seem to be much demand for rare foods.
North of this area led straight up through several layers to the brewery which had a blackboard that advised caution due to drunken dwarves. You could find dwarves to kill here on two levels. The design of the area was two square rooms with many casks. It is fortunate the taverns of Tibia are well stocked with Kazordoon beer as it would seem much of it is consumed before even makeing it to the market!
Traveling east at the split path took you to a staircase leading to the next level which was the shop level. If you took the path north instead you would see a staircase to the lower level. Along the way you would also pass a dirt tunnel east which would lead you to a hole that connected you to the main mine by a small tunnel and rope up spot. This was another dungeon of more basic starting creatures like trolls and spiders in spread out tunnels. If you traveled due east you would cross a hole with a signpost above which led you to the dwarf mine below. The sign alerted you that this hole led to the Deeper Mine and that only Authorized Personnel were allowed, which might be why you would be attacked by the dwarves there. This was the only way to access these mines and it was considered dangerous to explore. The dungeon was not very large but the slow walking speed, darkness, and number of hard hitting monsters which could trap you made it a challenge. You really didn't know what was deeper inside or how far the paths went.
Passing by the dirt path instead and taking the stairs down to the lower level led to an intersection of halls north, south, and east. These halls had black tile which contrasted the grey of the upper floors.
If you headed east from here, you would arrive at Kaz temple which consisted of two floors with the floor below containing the soul portal. The walk up to the portal was called the Hall of the Ancients and housed the tombs of Kazordoon's first born's. NPC Isimov Dustbeard, kaz's priest would wonder the first floor. He was an interesting character who in his youth quested for Excalibug but never found it.
Going south from the stairs led you to a room to the west called the Savage Axes Fellowship which had a large table to the west with many different common axes of Tibia (double axe, hand axe, small axe, hatchet, axe and halberd together). Traveling further south led you to the spot of the first of the Kaz blessing but those wouldn't exist for another 3 years. Instead, the NPC Kawill was there to provide information on Geomancy. Going east down the hall from here led to another room which was a large forge with a lava pool in the middle.
The north path at the stairs led to a small bar located down a ladder just off the path to the west which, according to the blackboard posted outside, was named Dragoneater Fellowship. This room had dead dragon bodies behind a fenced off area as well as tables and chairs for sitting. Following the path north took you to a path covered in fire fiends which if you made your way across you would encounter NPC Pydar who would talk to you about Pyromancy.
Back at the shop level of Kaz several floors up was a square hallway which led around 28 small rooms. These rooms had a sign posted which delayed them the Lower Barracks. On the west side of the path was a staircase leading up to the depot area. To the north on this path was the Rotworm training area with NPC Humgolf, who trained the Rotworms which dug the various tunnels that made up the gargantuan city. If you looked over the surrounding banister you could see a lower room with rots moving around. There was a door in the northwest corner of the room which led to the lower area but it has always remained locked.
Traveling along the top of the box led you to the massive bar area named Maryza's and Jimbin's Tavern, staffed by NPCs Maryza and Jimbin. To talk to the tavern masters you would have to address the one you wanted to speak to by name, but both would sell you similar alcohol products like beer, wine, some meats, and drinking paraphernalia. Many tables were spread around this room which couldn't be moved, and this area looked more like a huge festive hall. A toilet area north of this room had a hidden single rat spawn if you were of questionable mind and clicked on the sewer grate to hope into the pit below.
Off on the east side of the hall was a jewelry store run by NPC Tezila. North of this was a staircase leading to the depot above but if you continued north you would find another path with more shops to the east. The armor shop was the northern most shop ran by NPC Kroox, followed by the weapon store ran by NPC Uzgod, and then the tool store south of that, ran by both NPC Bezil and Nezil. These NPCs had the same issue as the tavern NPCs, so you had to address them by name to trade with either of them. Behind the armor shop and weapon shop were sample weapons on display but none of these were particularly special and have never changed from what we can see today.
The depot area above was very large with 9 stalls on the far east wall and 10 stalls in two stall blocks spread throughout the depot. Though the bank would not exist until the following update, you could still buy parcels from NPC Lokur who stood at a counter to the northeast.
The depot had a second entrance to the west which opened to the large market room which was the same one the Hail picture at the start of this project. The signboard on the pillar I believe announced the area as The Market. A staircase off the northwest side led up to the nobility quarter. North of The Market was the huge forge area with lava freely flowing in the middle and anvils all around.
To the south was the knights guild staffed by NPC Duria and a very small room. Players who went AFK at the depot entrance might end up pushed into the room and barricade with furniture. You couldn't destroy furniture so you'd be trapped until someone came to rescue you.
The south area here was the arena which had a balcony observation level and the arena floor by staircase below. Players mainly used the arena to train which is likely why it became a training statue room many years later.
West of the Market was a staircase leading to the shop floor below. If you continued north you would find a staircase leading up and a strange locked door preventing further passage. This locked door should have taken you into the Colossus but it remained locked. Players believed there was a way to find key 3803 which unlocked the door, and to aid this belief the door was unlocked for players during the Summer test server on July 11th, 2013 (Version 10.1). Though no one found this key a later bug let players break into the Colossus.
There is one other interesting thing to note. Sometime around 2010 when the new roof design was added to the game a bug showed up where players could push another player who was standing on a parcel stack with a field on it to a walkable surface on the floor above, even if this would never be allowed. Some of the OT community did some investigation with early Tibian versions and found that this bug was likely much older, possibly originating around Version 7.5 when CIP started changing game mechanics. It is unknown if anyone discovered this bug before but kept it secret but using it would have allowed access to the Colossus and other inaccessible areas.
Fun fact: the strange staircase from the roof of one of the Carlin shops was the original solution CIP provided when the bug was first found. It appears CIP thought that the bug only effected that one scenario and not as a mechanics problem. The bug was quickly patched once it was revealed how destructive it would be but the odd stairs remained.
It is interesting to note that the mini map only displayed maps of the surface level and the underground dungeons of the game. Anytime you explored an area above ground you would only see the surface map so you essentially had no maps for the upper level. For a huge area that largely existed above ground this was a real challenge for players as they couldn't rely on the map to auto walk and would have to navigate manually. Players also would have been around level 20-30 at this time so walking through the huge structure was slow despite the fast speed allowed by the floor tiles. All the paths and floors was really unlike anything else and made the city feel like a truly huge dwarven city.
Architecturally Kaz was also very different than other areas. The upper floors were very similar to Mt. Sternum in that you could see rock debris outside the playable area rather than the flat dirt spite that is found in most of the dungeons of the game. Stone brick wall spites and normal wood walls were primarily used for the upper areas and the more traditional red brick for below ground. In Tibia's early days the architecture was more about using your imagination to fill in the blanks of what the spites were unable to depict. While exploring the upper city, each layer looked less like Kaz was carved out of solid bedrock and instead looked like a house built upon a rocky layer. Graphics were very limited so the forge area looked more like a room with random tables, wells, campfires, and anvils which were meant to demonstrate the great dwarf ingenuity, but did quite the opposite by showing a lack of equipment. This is why what NPCs said was so important as their exposition would fill in what the graphics couldn't. Every NPC who cared to comment would extol the dwarven craftsmanship so looking at their sparse forge would leave you impressed that they made something remarkable with so little equipment. This duality of storytelling with both limited graphics and difficult to discover written narrative created an immersive environment for those who sought out the nuances of the Tibian story as a lack of answers in one area could be filled by the other.
That KM was able to use the sprite limitation to make something this impressive which was well outside the game's graphical scope, was earth shattering for the player base. Many players fell in love with the city despite the lack of graphical features. Overcoming the limitations of the game is one of the lasting impressions I have of the game, and is a large part of why Tibia was different then other games. By stretching the limits of what you thought possible, it was likely you would find something you least expected which pushed you to explore the deeper aspects of the game.
Back at the staircase by the door to Colossus, you could use this to get to the top of the mountain which had several wheat fields on the grassy surface. On the far side of the wheat was the elevator from earlier which would take you to the surface level. To the south was a storage area with a staircase which led to a mill and bread supplies. A second staircase took you to the massive iconic lake which became another great for people to train. This area didn't have any monsters but the like was fishable and it was an out of the way spot to train, so it was best suited for player on player training such paladin training. Though you could catch fish, the spot was so popular that it was difficult to catch fish as the pool was shared by all those training around the edge. This was unlike training on the map surface where the outer water squares would likely only be fishable by yourself.
If you instead took the staircase up from the Market you would find a large hallway which eventually led to the Nobel quarter of Kaz. The hall immediately connected you to a large room which was the armory. Moving west down the hall you would come across a staircase leading up and a further one which led down which led to center room but further west. West of the down staircase was a small room which held key 3802, Dwacatra Prison. To open the door you needed the armory key which was key 3801. North of this was a huge workshop room but no NPCs could be seen. The one interesting rare in this room was the iron hammer which was unobtainable until it became a quest item after Beta 6.61 but before Version 7. If you traveled south along the hall, you would find another staircase leading up and a locked door at the end of the hall which led to the staircase from earlier but was not openable.
The next floor up was called the Upper Barracks, and had a small, locked room off the path. North of the path was more rooms, though I can't recall what was in them. There was a small path leading to a well in this area too. East of this was the magic shop and sorcerer guild hall. The guild was run by NPC Etzel who was at the counter near the top of the room, his brother NPC Sigurd ran the magic shop, selling blank runes and mana to the few mages who stopped by. You could find him wandering around the entrance. The knight and sorcerer guild were the only two guilds available in Kaz. If you were a Paladin or a Druid you would need to go elsewhere for spells. There was a staircase in the back of the shop which would take you to a library on the second floor which held many books on Kaz. Once you were finished exploring this section you could take the single staircase west of the shop to the next floor.
This next floor was called the Nobility Quarter and had a series of rooms to the north but nothing interesting. A proud signpost advertised the direction to The Throne room on the next floor, which you could access by a staircase to the west.
Up the stairs was where the Emperor resided, which was called the Royal Hall. If you walked down the hall you would see a set of double doors which had statues flanking either side and the floor above was visible to give the impression of a high ceiling. If you stood in a certain spot, you could see the room above which had two drop-down holes and switches. This room wasn't accessible, but it didn't stop players from trying to find out what might be inside. The upper floor also held one other secret, a square which could be accessed by stacking parcels atop one another. Once you occupied the spot no one else could come up, but they could easily remove the parcels and trap you. Players would abuse this years later when the levitate spell was added to the game as it wasn't very well known. Today the center square at the end of the hall above no longer exists.
Off to the west was a guard room staffed by NPC Tulf. Stairs at the corner of this room led to two upper floors which had different dwarves you could kill. The first of these floors led to a set of locked doors which connected to the room you saw earlier with switches but no key has ever turned up for this door. I recall once finding the door for this unlocked after an update but I've never encountered it again.
Traveling further into the hall led you to the huge throne room were NPC Emperor Kruzak Dustbeard roamed the end of the chamber. The ruler for the last 150 years was not surrounded by guards like Tibia's other monarchs, nor did he have a throne. If you spoke with him, he would start every sentence with "Well", but seemed to enjoy regaling you with tales of his city. He liked to chat and entertain visitors like yourself who may have had questions regarding the topic of the Basilisk and the Great Axe which was said to be the reward for slaying the creature. It is worth mentioning that the Basilisk was not actually in game so it was anyone's guess as to where this mythical beast could be found or what might prompt its appearance. Despite the uncertainly, the incredibly powerful weapon was too good to ignore as it had two more attack power than the SoV's 50 atk. The WoT legendary description says that this weapon could behead a dragon in a single blow and that kind of power drove players to find their own. Finding the axe proved difficult as only three existed and none of them were obtained through any quest. This did not deter players from trying and though the weapon is no longer as rare or as powerful as it once was, many still try to solve the Emperor's quest.
This rare axe paled in comparison to what was lurking behind the Emperor which was the most outrageous treasure room in Tibia which was filled with the best items ever seen. Those old players may wax nostalgic about the Cyclops treasure room, but the treasures contained in Kaz made the Cyc treasure look like a prehistoric junk heap. Of course, to get a good glimpse of what was inside you had to squeeze between the two large boulders and peer through solid bedrock. From this awkward vantage point, you would see the crown which is still an original rare and the golden legs which was incredibly rare at the time as no creatures dropped it.
This might be tantalizing enough except you could get an even better look then peering through solid bedrock perched on the rocks with your back towards the Emperor (he really was a benevolent ruler). Once your jaw had returned to its proper upright position you could head north through the door to the Emperor's chambers. Here you could see a large table and two rooms, one of which was the Emperor's sleeping chamber which was locked. You needed key 3800 to open which fortunately for you was close by.
To get this key you had to go into the secret passage which could be seen hidden behind a statue and tapestry to the west. If you traveled along this small pathway through the rock you would find another key and a switch. This switch lifted the huge bolder directly north of you out of the way, allowing you to drop down to the floor below. This was the fast way out of the city and consisted of mostly one-way drops and switches which eventually dropped you in the middle of the narrow path through the mountain. You could then carry on with your journey.
Unfortunately, the design of this feature allowed PKs to rope up players who were walking by and trap them in this room. Tibia has always been a game of unexpected danger so those who auto walked through the mountain pass could find themselves unexpectedly trapped with no idea where they were or how they ended up there.
Now that you had key 3800 you could head back to the Emperor's chamber and open the door. Inside was key 3801 and cookies in a bag. This key allowed you to open the door to the south of the Emperor. Upon opening the door you would be attacked by three hostile Dwarf Guards.
At the end of the hall you would be able to see an even greater treasure inside. Hopefully you had already dispatched the guards before looking at the prize inside. Dying while distracted by legendary treasure rooms was a Tibian past time.
The room held the fabled Great Shield and HotS which were still incredibly rare, but also held the very rare Golden legs which I don't believe were seen yet in game. You might be wondering about the room's other mega rare, but during this time you couldn't see the extra row of squares on the top and bottom of the screen we have now so no one knew a Dragon Scale Legs was also in here. When this update happened everyone and their dog rushed to check out the treasure room and it didn't disappoint!
This room has remained a mighty treasure and players still dream of one day getting inside. To help fuel their imagination, several floor tile switches existed on the way in but no player has ever been able to figure out what they did and every conceivable idea has been exhausted. If these ever had a purpose it has long since been abandoned and forgotten about.
I tracked down a video of what the journey would have looked like back then.
Later KM would remark that "Some Ideas just don't work in the game at all and I am disapointed with the view, like the colossus infront of Kazordoon. Its realy hard to understand whats the concept of it, if you did not enter it and even then it needs a lot of imagination."
The area's lack of hunting grounds was an issue CIP found with the addition, and KM during an interview remarked that "Yes certain areas will be filled up with 'hunting grounds'", "CIP is aware what people really want". Despite the deeper city being a natural haven against PKs there was little to hunt there. It would be another year before the area was expanded to include a large hunting spot so the population of Kazordoon was mainly just diehard fans and remained the lowest temple home for players out of the three choices.
