This was part of the Altar of Malice Crafting/Housing preview.
Before diving into the quest content, you should be aware of travel to/around/in the Shattered Seas. If you have already read and remembered the travel information from the expansion preview, you can skip down to the information on the first quest.
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Tranquil Sea is available from any world bell. Yep, not quite in the middle of the map, but close enough. (I lost count of how many folks couldn't find it on the map in beta until they were told where to look.)
The area around the destroyed tower is a no-fly zone due to the intensely warped magics surrounding it. (Adventurers unlock the ability to fly in the area after doing a few quests. Crafters unlock the ability to fly in the area once they finish all the way through "Return to Refuge".) The no-fly area only goes as far as the first archway, and you'll quickly learn a more-or-less shore run to get from the docks to the relative safety of the Far Seas encampment past that first arch.
You will find some waterspouts in the Shattered Seas, to make travel from island-to-island in the same zone a bit faster. Simply fly low over them to be given a bit of a speedboost.
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Phantom Sea is north of Tranquil Sea and can be reached by flying north and north some more, BUT since anyone doing this questline is well anove the level 20+ crafter requirement, you can buy lore, single-use port baubles to "Return to Highhold" and "Return to Refuge" baubles from the Far Seas Supply Division vendors in Mara and on the Isle of Refuge (IoR). The IoR vendor, Shazra is to your left on a hillock, once you pass the first arch in Tranquil Sea. Isn't she ... um ... lovely?
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Phantom Sea requires a bit of travel awareness when visiting Kithicor Island. You see, there's Wanderer's Dock (A on the map below), and Castle Highhold (C on the map below). You'll also need to visit the Blessed Knoll during the crafting timeline. (D on the map below.) Then there's the grumpy dark elves in Ghorkaal. And by grumpy, I mean they have NPCs specifically planted to knock you out of the sky if you fly too close. That'd be B on the map below. Yeah, squishies will want to avoid them, and you can swing wide on the water side, or swing a bit more south when flying over land. On the plus side, Ghorkaal is pretty, in a dark, hate-filled kind of way!
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It all starts with a letter from Captain Ethan Darani.
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Read the mail and accept the quest. You will then be sent to Tranquil Sea, and once you arrive, you will want to speak with "a Far Seas Worker" to your left. Wow, the place definitely isn't as you remembered it, is it? Your next step is to search the tower ... or what's left of it! Dodge all the nasty mobs and zip in and out of the tower quickly.
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Your next step is to search the Far Seas encampment that is just past that first archway to the left as you enter the zone. You're aiming more or less for 1215, 17, 1267 if the locs help you a bit. Once you finish there, you need to search the D.I.R.T.Y. digsite. Fly over the hill behind the banker, and zip into the base of the pit that you find there. Nope, still no sign of the missing Quartermaster. Head back to the dock to speak with "a Far Seas worker" and ask him to deliver a letter to Captain Ethan with your findings.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
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Talk to Gnorbert again, and in true gnomish fashion, he wants you to make some explosives and blast him out. You'll find supplies in his backpack at 1117, 30, 1119, Click to receive the recipe for Excavator's High Efficiency Explosives (autoscribes) along with the other required ingredients. There is a chemistry table back over the hill in the Far Seas camp, up on the little hill where Shazra is. Craft one Excavator's High Efficiency Explosives using his supplies. (Note: the quest helper says "Get Gnorbert's supplies make explosives", so don't just stand there waiting for the quest helper to update once you get the supplies - go make the explosives! :D)
Once you've made on them, head back to Gnorbert and click on the green shiny next him. Then click barrel that appears on the spot. After it explodes, speak with Gnorbert once again.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
Speak with Gnorbert and tell him to stay still until you've found some bandages or such. Harvest 3 dogwood shrubs on the bluffs nearby. They are trackable, and a house item (below), so you might want to grab a few extra. (If you forget to grab extras, one of Skrit's dailies will have you harvesting them again, so you'll have further chances to grab them.) They're a darker green than the normal shrubs, which should make it easier to spot them at a distance.
Click again on Gnorbert's backpack to get strips of cloth, and you will autoscribe the D.I.R.T.Y. First Aid Guide, and the recipe for Healing Salve Infused Bandages. Use the chemistry table again to make make 1 bandage (all materials provided), then talk to Gnorbert again to bandage him up.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
Dogwood Shrub |
Shissar Ritual Brazier |
Speak with Gnorbert, who tries to bail before someone places the blame on D.I.R.T.Y. for the explosion. Something, however, is up, and you intend to get to the bottom of it. Click 5 sparkly dirt mounds in the area. There should be enough in the bottom of the dig site, but keep an eye out for aggro mobs. Imagine that - you found something that looks like a shissar relic! Confront Gnorbert who admits access to the island was shut down when they realized there might be something of value there.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s and an heirloom Shissar Ritual Brazier. (pictured above)
Gnorbert asks you to take his final report to someone in the Far Seas Trading Company. Head back over the hill to the main encampment, and talk to Skrit, who is now next to the chemistry table. Note: There is mail from Captain Ethan that is triggered at this point, telling you that he's sent Skrit out to help you. However, due to the delays in the mail system, you may not get notification of new mail for half an hour or more, unless you log/zone to force it. The mail is totally unneccesary, though, so don't fret it.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
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When you confront Skrit about the Shissar relics, you find that she was just as clueless about them as you, and reminds you that the Far Seas Supply Division is just one branch of the FSTC. Duke Ferin has been a bit secretive lately, and hasn't been keeping the FSSD informed. Try to help figure out what happened, and search around the tower and/or dig site for 10 sparkly flapping pages (not trackable). Return to Skrit for your reward.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Skrit has a recipe to restore damaged scrolls, but these look pretty badly damaged. You're a skilled enough crafter, though, that you may be able to help. She gives you the recipe for Restoration of the Damaged Notes (autoscribed). On engraved desk, craft 5 restored notes. In addition to the notes, you will need a total of 5 leonid roots from the T11 root nodes and 5 effulgent incense. You cannot mass produce these, so don't waste the notes trying. Speak with Skrit once done for your reward.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Um, did she just say that it was a dragon's interest in the isle that caused the FSTC to become interested in the area? You mean that Captain Varlos, who used to rescue refugees and bring them to the Isle of Refuge was actually Darathar the Deceiver?!? And when Duke Ferin of the FSTC found out, that's when he closed access to the island? Brain pretzel time!
Pick your jaw off the floor while she feeds you this chunk of lore, k?
The FSTC apparently found something important in their searching, but what it was, and what made the tower go blooey is still a mystery. Can you look around for anything strange around the tower, while she asks around to see if anyone knows anything more?
Using the catalogue creature ability from your knowledge book, catalog: a twisted hominid, a twisted Far Seas crew member, a twisted piperacea plant, and a twisted shrub. They are all found around tower, and that crew member is rather aggro, so you'll likely want to tag from the maximum possible distance.
Return to Skrit with your findings to receive your reward.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Skrit says that someone saw Roberta (Quartermaster Robbins) heading north after the disaster. Yep, remember that while the mystery of the tower is interesting, you were actually sent to find her?
Head northeast to the island of South Dshinn and the village of Bagawa. Once there, talk to a pygmy by the name of Hyggin -at 705, 8, 290. He mentions that he's seen outsiders before, but since you have never met her before, you can't give him details on what she looks like. He then asks if you want to trade. Return to update Skrit, who is now by the dock in the pygmy village at -623, 7, 259.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
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While Skrit, who is a friend of Roberta's, speaks with the natives, why don't you see about the possibility of local trade for her? Talk to Hyggin again, and you learn that pygmies have a fondness for ... pickles.
Thankfully, Skrit has you covered - mostly. Speak with her, and she gives you a recipe for Skrit's Pickles (autoscribes), and there is a cooking pot on the ground next to her.
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You will need to make 5, as with the rest of this questline, mass production will not work. You will need a total of 5 hylocereus fruit, 5 sulfur fruit, and 5 effulgent kindling. (The fruits come from the pygmy brambles nodes.) Bring the completed pickles back to Hyggin.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Happy Hyggin has pickles now! As his end of the trade, he wants you to point out a few crafted things in his hut. Click on the bucket behind him, the stool, the table, the bowl on the table and the charm hanging from ceiling (you want the charm hanging above the table, not the one at the entrance to the hut). Talk to Hyggin again and he gives you Traditional Pygmy Furnishings (5 autoscribed recipes), make 1 of each item. The woodworking table is near the dock in village.
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You might wonder why I went to the trouble of taking a screenshot of a woodworking table, since all of you should know what one looks like by now. However, I lost count of the number of times folks couldn't find it in beta, even when it was staring them in the face, so, here it is, at the docks of the pygmy village ... just in case it is blending in with the beach colors too much for you, or something.
Craft a deinodon bone stool (2 larix lumber, 1 iodocus cluster, 1 effulgent sandpaper), deinodon bone table (2 larix lumber, 1 iodocus cluster, 1 effulgent sandpaper), pygmy bucket (1 leonid root, 1 larix lumber, 1 iodocus cluster, 1 effulgent sandpaper), pygmy charm (1 leonid root, 1 larix lumber, 1 iodocus cluster, 1 effulgent sandpaper) and woven reed bowl (1 leonid root, 1 larix lumber, 1 iodocus cluster, 1 effulgent sandpaper). Return to Hygin when done.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens. (plus you keep the recipes for these house items)
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Don't run off just because your quest journal suddenly has no continuation quest. Turn around, and head back to the beach where Skrit has been for the last few quests, and talk to her again.
Skrit asks you to deliver pygmy furniture (a virtual update, you don't need to make a physical set to deliver) to Skrit's tent back at the Isle of Refuge. Click on the crate next to the engraved desk at 1219, 17, 1266. Then you need to head yet more north and rejoin Skrit in the search for Quartermaster Robbins. (If you've forgotten how to do that, check the travel section at the top of this article.)
Do not do a Mum, and get so focused on the travel step that you buy and use the travel bauble from Sahzra before you remember to click the crate to drop off the furniture!
Find and talk to the prone Skrit at 1211, 18, 1282 and you find that she's gravely injured.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
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After trying to talk to Skrit, you decide to look around and find some help for her. Talk to a Far Seas mariner near the mailbox. You learn that a lot of the stuff in the forest is poisonous, and that you may need a healing poultice to help Skrit. The mariner sends you to the Blessed Knoll 413, 34, 760 for help and ingredients. Remember the travel warnings about the Ghorkaal village before you start flying, and you're less likely to get knocked out of the sky. :D
Speak with a forest guardian at the Blessed Knoll to learn about the healing properties of one of the plants. Find 3 Tunarean Trumpetleaf plants around the nonfunctional druid ring. They are trackable small yellow trumpet looking flowers with a sparkle effect. (They are also house item, and you can harvest more if you want). Return with flowers to a Far Seas mariner at the SW dock and she will give you a recipe for Healing Poultice (autoscribed)
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
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Speak a bit more with the Far Seas mariner to get the quest to craft the healing poultice. There is cooking pot nearby on the ground.
Yep, here we go again. You, my crafty reader, will know there's a cookpot there, and know what it looks like from the picture of the one up in the pygmy village several quests ago. Trust me, however, your crafting channel will have several complaining because there is no stove. The cookpot is there, it is on the ground near the path leading the the still-unconscious Skrit. Give yourself a pat on the back for your reading skills every time you hear someone fret because they have nowhere to make the poultice. :D
Back to the cookpot - in addition to the 3 Tunarean Trumpetleaf, you will need 2 sulfur fruit and 1 effulgent kindling. Concoct the healing poultice, then click on Skrit to apply the poultice. She will jump right to her feet, nicely healed.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Well, she's mostly healed (which isn't quite the same as mostly dead, I suppose). It seems Skrit needs to go back to Tranquil Sea to finish recovering, and wants you to go to Castle Highhold to enlist help in the search for Quartermaster Robbins. Remember the travel warnings as you head up to Castle Highhold. Once you arrive to Arms Master Ryan at 687, 351, 64 and you learn that the missing Quatermaster is there. Sound the gong, bang the drum, the missing have been found! Or something like that.
Head to the crafting equipment to the south of Ryan and talk to Quartermaster Robbins. She's helping out the defenders and the situation seems desperate, so after you let her know that folks are worried about her, you roll up your sleeves and offer to help. (Apparently neither of you think about, oh, sending a quick note back to say she's alive ....)
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Robbins asks you to take inventory of the supplies to see if there's anything that can be used for improvised weapons. She gives you Recipe for Improvised Armament, which autoscribes. Click on the three crates and a barrel nearby, you recive "supplies inventory list" from each (4 total). Use the engraved desk nearby create this recipe. In addition to the supplies inventory list you just harvested, you will need 1 leonid root, 1 cadmium ore, 1 effulgent incense. Return to Robbins after you have created the recipe.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
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Of course, the fact that you were able to safely fly over the attackers has been noticed, so while Quartermaster Robbins works on crafting the weapons from the recipe that you created, she wants you to go in search of young spiteweed, for a brew that is strong enough to even slow down the undead. You autoscribe the recipe for Spiteweed Brew. Gather 5 young spiteweed from either the shores of Kithicor, or the small islands just off the shore to the east. (ROI is marked on the map.) The islands are likely the better bet if you're squishy, but be aware that there is usually at least one aggro mob on each island as well. The young spiteweed can be found with track harvestables. Once you have five, there is a chemistry table near Robbins where you can brew the 5 Spiteweed Brew. In addition to the 5 young spiteweed, you will need a total of 10 sulfur fruit, 10 hylocereus fruit, and 5 effulgent candle. Speak to Robbins when finished.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
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Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD and 5 Far Seas tokens.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD, 5 Far Seas tokens and the Mark of the Far Seas (which includes a neat red graphic effect as show in the screenshot below).
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At this point Skrit's crafting dailies, and Quartermaster Robbin's crafting weeklies unlock. These dailies will give tradeskill xp, AA, at least 1p 40g 40s, 500 faction with the FSSD, and 5 Far Seas tokens. The weeklies boost the FSSD faction by 2000 and the tokens to 15. You can read some bare-bones details on the dailies and weeklies here
Wait a an hour or so, OR get impatient and zone to force email to be delivered from Trade Liaison Wells. (I recommend zoning to Qeynos or Freeport, since you're about to head there for this quest anyway.) Read the email and accept the quest. Then head to North Qeynos and the Ironforge Exchange if you're from Qeynos, Halas or Felwithe, or head to West Freeport and the Coalition of Tradesfolke if you're from Freeport, Neriak or Gorowyn.
Either way, you are to speak with Trade Liaison Wells, who is trying to figure out the origin of the codex and the artifact that were retrieved by adventurers in the Tranquil Sea. Of course, your competence in assisting until this point singles you out ... for more work.
Your first step is the Qeynos or Freeport library, located in the city's mage guild. (For the Qeynos side, take the blue port circle to the left inside the mage tower. Freeport has the objects of your search right there on the main floor of the mage guild.) You are searching for either 1 or 5 sparkly books. How many your quest asks for is based on some mystery that even the developers can't figure out right now. Either way, return to the Trade Liaison when the quest helper tells you to and tell him that they look like artifacts that originated in Kunark long ago.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
Naturally, this means you're the person to travel to Kunark to find out more, specifically with iksar in Teren's Grasp. Head to Kylong Plains and talk to Sethus in the building at the top of Teren's Grasp at 2241, 524, -976. He tells you that they're not iskar in origin, but look to be shissar in origin. Apparently, this is pretty nasty stuff, and he tells you to bring it to the Duality immediately.
There's a wizard portal in Teren's Grasp that you can use to travel to the Sundered Frontier. Once you're at the main Paineel port pad, you can port down to the Hole (if you've unlocked the destination with an adventuring quest), or step off the ledge surrounding the Paineel port pad and fly down to the port pad that you see below you. Walk into the entry area to the Hole, and you will find the option to go to the Duality's Vigilant Sanctum on the door to your left.
Enter the instance and speak to The Duality, who thinks the artifacts date from around the time of Ssraeshza, who led the shissar to Luclin. Gather 5 Notes on the Ssraeshza Era from around his sanctum. If you're having a hard time finding them, track harvestables is also an option, but they should be pretty easy to find lying around.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
The Duality fears you're going to have to consult the other source for shissar knowledge. While it is a bit dangerous, he wants you to check Mistmoore's study for more information. When you accept, you autoscribe Transcribe Research Notes into your recipe book and he opens up a portal for you to enter.
Click on the portal and go up the steps to enter Mistmoore's study. The moment that you move after zoning, a heroic patrolling Vigilant Mistmoore Guardian spawns that will path through the hallway and in/out of the room. As long as you stay behind the sofas, you are out of his sensing range, and he will leave you alone. (He is a pushover for high-level folks, but could squish a squishy. Since he's not worth any experience, it is best just to leave him alone.Collect five sets of Research Notes. While you could use track harvestables on them, there really is no need as the area is small and the notes are easy to find. Once you have them, dodge the guard, zone back to the Duality's sanctum, and you will need to use the recipe Transcribe Research Notes at the engraved desk. (It takes all the notes as ingredients and fuel, no other resources needed for this step.) Hand the transcribed notes back to the Duality.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
Talk with the Duality some more, learning that the codex had contained the spells used to transport the shissar to Luclin. (Had, they're gone now ...) The artifact, however, needs a bit of further testing.
He gives you the Brokenskull Artifact, the Duality's instructions, and an autoscribed recipe for Artifact Test Sample. Craft the sample on the chemistry table (you will also need 1 tourmaline and 1 cadmium ore). When done, click on the three flasks on the table next to Duality, and you find that while two of them change color rather dramatically, the middle one barely changes at all.
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Inform the Duality of your findings, and he tells you that this indicates that the artifact has strong magic transference properties. Return to Trade Liaison Wells with the news.
Reward: tradeskill xp, AA, and at least 1p 40g 40s.
If there is any additional reward for completing this quest, it will be discovered after launch. (This was the point where the beta testers were awarded with the beta testing reward carpet mount, so we've not seen what, if anything else, is awarded when it goes live.) I will post an update once we've done this quest series after launch.
Edit 02-01-2015 by Therendil: I've run two people through this to the end since the expansion launched and the last reward listed is in fact the end of the series. Sorry, but no surprise prizes. -= Therendil =-