Mines' End

Mines' End lies at the bottom of the Gnomish Mines. It will be either the 8th or 9th level of that branch, and will therefore occurs somewhere between Dlvl10 and Dlvl13. There are three versions of Mines' End, each of which is guaranteed to contain a luckstone.

Credit for all maps in this article goes to the Nethack Gazetteer's Mines' End page, at Map from the Nethack Gazetteer, found at http://www.spod-central.org/~psmith/nh/gazetteer/minesend.html

Notable fact is that Mines' End, being the lowest level of the Gnomish Mines has undiggable floor. Therefore, zapping a wand of digging downwards - one of several ways of escaping looming death - will have not quite the desired effect.

Version 1: The Mimic of the Mines

This level contains 7 secret doors; behind one of them is the luckstone, other piles also contain a loadstone and mimics at random. Besides these, there are two random tools, seven random gems, and three other random objects placed throughout the level. The walls are undiggable.

S secret door
* gems and luckstone/loadstone/mimic
< upstairs

°                        ---------     -------------       -------
                         |.......|     |.......|...|       |.....|*
     ---------        ----.......-------...........|       |--...-S-
     |.......|        |..........................-S-      --.......|
     |......-------   |--...........<............|*       |.......--
     |..--........-----..........................|.       |.-..----
     --..--.-----........|.....................--|        |-..--
      --..--.*| -----------..................---.----------..--
       |...--.|    |.*S...S..............---................--
      ----..-----  ------------........--- ------------...--|
      |.........--            ----------              ---...-- -----
     --.....---..--                           --------  --...---...--
  ----..|..-- --..---------------------      --......--  ---........|
---....-----   --..|..................---    |........|    |.......--
|.......|       --......................S*.  --......-|    |--..----
---.--.--        ----.................---     ------..------...--
  |....S*.          |...............|..|         .*S...........|
  ------            --------------------           -------------

Version 2: The Gnome King's Wine Cellar

This version contains six guaranteed potions of booze (as the name would suggest). There are two random tools, seven random gems, and three other random objects scattered throughout the level. The luckstone is at the chamber in the far right; the blank tiles are rock that needs to be dug out to reach this chamber. The chamber also contains one ruby and one emerald (SW), two diamonds (NW), two emeralds (NE), two amethysts, one ruby and one luckstone (SE), as well as a few random gems. To get to the hidden gem cache, you can teleport in, or dig with a pickaxe,(the spell/wand of digging only digs one tile here, so you'll need more charges than one wand can hold).

S secret door
! pile of potions (each contains two potions of booze and a random potion)
* pile of gems
{ fountain
< upstairs

-----------------------------------------------------                        
|...................................................|                        
|.----------S--.---...---------------------------|..|                        
|.||----   |.|--- |...|..........................|..|                        
|.||...| ---.-.|---...|.............<...............|                **      
|.||...--|.....|....---..........................|..|.               **      
|.||.....|-S-..|....|............................|..|..                      
|.|----..|!.|..---..|----------------------------|..|-.                      
|.|   |..|!.|....|..................................|...                     
|.|   |..|!.|-----..------------------------------..|....                    
|.-----..---|.......|-----------------------     |..|.....                   
|...........|----.--|......................|     |..|.......                 
------------|...|.| --------------------.|.-------..|.....|..                
-------------.{.|.|---------------------.|..........|.....|....              
|...............|.S......................|-------------..-----...            
|.---------------.|---------------------.|.........................          
|.................|                    |.....................|........       
-------------------                    --------------------------------

Version 3: The Catacombs

This level is unmappable and contains a randomly-generated maze. The level 'walls', the large chambers and the possible locations of the luckstone are fixed. There are three possible locations of the luckstone, the others containing nothing and a flint stone, respectively. The luckstone and flint stone lie on a level teleporter. The rest of the level contains two diamonds, three emeralds, two rubies, two amethysts, seven other random gems, five random scrolls, four random spellbooks, and three other random objects. The spellbooks and scrolls make this the most desireable level for spellcasters, but it is also the most difficult because the starting room often contains several powerful monsters in a small space. There are two random V in the level. Stay on the up stairs, and don't forget Elbereth.

S secret door
* gems and luckstone/flint stone/level teleporter
{ fountain
< upstairs

-----------------------   ---------------------------       -----------------
|      ...            |   |    ...                  |       |               |
|      ...            -----    ...                  ---     |               |
|      ...             ...     ...                    |     |               |
|                      ...    ---                     |   ---       ------- |
|                  .......    | |                     |   |         |.....| |
|         --- ---  .......    ---     -----------     --- |         |.....S |
|         |.....|  ...........        |.........|       | |         |*....| |
|         |.....|      .......---     |.........|       ---         ------- |
|         |..{..|      .......| |     S....<....S                           |
|         |.....|      ...    ---     |.........|   ---                     |
|         |.....|      ...            |.........|   | |...                  |
----      --- ---      ...---         -----------   ---...    ---     ---   |
 --|..                 ...| |                          ...    | |     | |   |
 |*S..                ----- ---                        ...    | ---   --- ---
 |-|..                |       |...                 ... ...    |   |       |
 |*S..              ---       |...      ---        .{.        |   ---------
 --|..              |         |...      | |        ...        |
   ------------------         ----------- ---------------------

The dotted areas are always open floor; the < is the upstairs; the *s mark the locations of the luck and flint stones; and the { are fountains. The rest is filled in with random maze.

SLASH'EM

SLASH'EM contains an additional level to the Gnomish Mines which is reached by a down staircase in the now misnamed Mines' End. The Mine King level can also be dug to through the floor of Mines' End. This is important mainly not as an escape, but as a warning to be alert for trapdoors which can drop you into a situation you are not prepared for (the new final level of the mines can be difficult for the unprepared). The down staircase will be located on one of the possible luckstone locations for the "Mimic of the Mines" and the "Catacombs" variants and immediately next to the gem cache in the "Gnome King's Wine Cellar" variant.