Here is one of the first areas you are likely to explore on your own outside of the academy. Shattered Refuge is home to the gnomes of the realms. These gnomes are all of a good alignment, so that means that smacking them around will cost you some of your alignment. (You will start to become baaaad.) There are a few interesting things to be found here, though. This is where Nelkum the spell bot can be found. Just west of this room on the map is the East Gate of Darkhaven. You might want to take advantage of Nelkum's spells, (or MYSELF fer cryin out loud...). There are a couple of gnomes guards here that are good for exp when it gets too easy smacking around the children and women of the town. Ever wonder where that Electrum sword comes from? Well, this is the man who has it. Bring a couple of friends along and take turns pounding on him. The exp is good for when you are younger. In this same general spot you can also find scientists and assistants. The scientists have baskets on them. More importantly, the assistants have vials on them that are small heals. These can come in handy if you need a quick few hp's. Kill the assistants and collect vials. If you happen to be a gnome, it should be nice and easy for you to walk in here. Otherwise it might be a bit of a pain in the arse... Go look and you'll see why. Get a coupla friends. Get spelled up. Go kill the troll. Once he's dead there is a disk on his corpse. Get the disk and you will be instantly transported to the other side of the bridge (its the only way across the bridge). You will now find yourself in hobgoblin country. Kill the troll again and *poof* you're back to where you began. Here you will find the Traitor. In this room, there is a trapdoor that leads down into Hobgoblins. Handy if you want a quick way in without smacking the troll down. Just OPEN TRAPDOOR and head DOWN.
This is where you get teleported to when you kill the Troll on the Gnomes side of the bridge. There is another Troll here, and the same procedure to get back to the other side. :) This is the room where you came down to from the traitor up at the gnomes. You can get back out this way by OPEN TRAPDOOR and heading DOWN again. Going all the way up here will lead you to a pair of sentry hobgoblins. These are the mobs that have the Stone Shield. These two rooms have a LOT of hobgoblin guards in them. They are all aggro, so have fun. Just North of the Chief Guard is a door that leads to the throne room of the Hobgoblin King (#9). Here, finally, is the Hobgoblin King and a pair of his bodyguards. Kill the king, and you will find the Gnarled Sceptre on him, as well as the key to unlock his throne to reach the treasure room. UNLOCK THRONE, OPEN THRONE, EAST. Here is the pathetic little treasurer for the King. Not alot here in this room, but take a look around and see what you can find.