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The The Cabilis Shaman Cudgel Quests

by Verdandi Snowblood

The quests for the Cudgels center around the the shaman guild in Cabilis. Anyone can do them, but only a shaman can use the cudgels. shaman who are not iksar will have the huge task of acquiring sufficient faction in Cabilis before they can even start on the cudgels themselves. Once that's done, acquiring the items and fighting the fights also takes much time and effort. You are at the beginning of a lengthy journey. But at the end of it lies:


Skyiron Cudgel of the Ancients

MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: RANGE PRIMARY
Charges: Unlimited
Skill: 1H Blunt Atk Delay: 22
DMG: 14 Dmg Bonus: 13
STA: +10 WIS: +15 INT: +10 HP: +50 MANA: +75
SV DISEASE: +15 SV POISON: +15
Effect: Carnage (Any Slot/Can Equip, Casting Time: 15.0)
WT: 4.0 Size: MEDIUM
Class: SHM
Race: BAR TRL OGR IKS VAH FRG

Carnage

Slot Description
3: Increase ATK by 40
5: Increase AGI by 40
6: Increase STR by 40
7: Increase DEX by 40

Target Type: Single
Duration: 6 Minutes

That is the eighth and final cudgel. There are also seven other cudgels that will come as you complete each step, each progressively better. So even if you lack the ability to reach the final cudgel right now, you may wish to start now and work your way further as you advance in strength.

This guide was written based on my own experiences in questing for the cudgels. My own questing, however, was infinitely easier thanks to the help of others who created guides and offered their findings on the message boards. So the credit for this guide really belongs to Cradossk of the Champions of Cabilis, Lehua for her Complete Cudgel Walkthrough for Good Races, Orgak for his Cudgel Checklist, Allakhazam, Illia's Bestiary, EQ Atlas, and countless other contributors to the Shaman's Crucible message boards.

In particular, I recommend Orgak's Cudgel Checklist as a handy supplemental tool for tracking your progress. There is also an updated version by Syckn Twysted that may be good as well.

Faction

These are the factions in Cabilis:

Iksar shaman should start with sufficient faction all the way around, and can skip all of the faction work. Trolls, ogres, barbarians, vah shir, and guktans will need to do a lot of schmoozing. Ultimately, you need to be amiable or better to the Scaled Mystics, the shaman guild, in order to do the quests. You will start by working your way to dubious with the Legion of Cabilis by killing things, and then can do turn-in quests to work up the shaman. In the process of working up the shaman, you'll also improve your standing with everyone else except the necromancers. So by the time you can actually start doing turn-ins for the quest, you will probably be tolerated by everyone in Cabilis except the necromancers. You can improve your faction with the necros if you like, but it's not necessary for the quest and takes far, far, far more work on top of everything you already have to do.

While you are working on the Legion faction, /consider any of the Trooper guards that stand to either side of the archway to the zone outside any of the four entrances to Cabilis. Be sure that you are /conning the stationary guards that stand directly on either side and not the Crusaders that usually wander around the entrance area. Nothing dangerous in any of those areas should see invis, so you can just run around the buildings outside the zone to target a Trooper and then run back out to somewhere safe to drop invis and /con. Once you start working on the rest of Cabilis, a good npc to /con is Oracle Qulin. He is a shaman on the Mystics of Cabilis faction and is down on the shore along the water at the north end of the Field of Bone. Neither he nor anything else in his immediate vicinity see invis, so you can safely run along the shore while invis to find him, and stand a short distance away to drop invis and consider him.

What to Hunt

So, your first goal is to kill your way to respectability with the guards. There are a variety of options here, the main ones being:

Killing explorers in LoIO or drixies, pilgrims, and scouts in Firiona will all hurt faction with Firiona, Kelethin, and Kaladim. The explorers, however, drop stackable knives that you can save to eventually turn in to a Cabilis guard for much bigger positive hits to Legion of Cabilis than the other quests. If you are willing to sacrifice the good faction and store the knives until you reach dubious, this will definitely save you gobs of time. Or, if you have any interest in doing the Crown of Deceit quest for the illusion: wood elf item, killing frogloks in Sebilis will improve the faction you need with Guk at the same time. Killing the various types of outcast iksar will likewise improve your Brood of Kotiz at the same time, if you do plan to eventually work on necromancer faction.

For reference, the levels of faction from best to worst are:

We also have at our disposal enchanters and the alchemy illusion potions. If you have an enchanter with the AA that lets them project illusion and that is willing to come along and illusion you the zillion of times that will be involved, you are a lucky shaman. (The enchanter will also have to have quested for the iksar illusion spell.) Otherwise, iksar meat is rarer than most, but not hopelessly so. The only known drop is off of iksar broken skull mercenaries in Dulak's Harbor. Combine one iksar meat with wormwood bought in the Gulf of Gunthak in your medicine bag. It is a difficult combine, trivial in the low 170s. (More detail on the recipe and ingredients is available at EQ Traders.) If your own alchemy skill is not adequate and you cannot find another alchemist of sufficient skill to combine it for you, consider shopping the Bazaar for the prepared potions.

The difficulty with illusions for the faction work is that there is no way to know when you have reached the point where a it will make you non-kos so you can start doing quests, except to keep putting up the illusion and conning things. At some point while you are still scowling but have done a LOT of work, you could try using illusion to test. Or you could just wait until you are threatening with the guards and use illusions to start quests then. You do want to start quests as soon as you can because that is how you will get faction with the rest of Cabilis. You will be getting warrior faction at the same time then, too, so there is no reason to spend extra time on warrior faction once you can start questing. But if you do not want to use illusions much or at all, there is no harm in just killing things until threatening or dubious.

Once you are dubious to the Legion of Cabilis, either as you are or with illusion, it is time to switch to quests.

Questing

By far the fastest quest for evils or those willing to sacrifice some good factions is the Explorer Knife quest. Give each Explorer Survival Knife off of the explorers in the yellow tower in Lake of Ill Omen (and possibly also those that wander Firionia Vie) to Trooper Vaurk, who is stationed nearby. The positive Legion hits for this are much larger, so you will need to complete the quest only about 80 times (very roughly), compared to about 1500 quest completions (with 6000 drops turned in) for the other usual approach. But again, you take big negative hits to Firiona, Kelethin, and Kaladim for killing the explorers. You may end up kos in those places if this is your primary source of Cabilis faction, especially if you were not very high with them to start.

If you wish to preserve those good factions, you will need to give bone chips to Trooper Mozo. Lots and lots and lots and lots of bone chips. Lots. And lots. Mozo is one of the two troopers guarding the zone to Cabilis in Field of Bone. Every time you give him four bone chips, he will give you 7 silver pieces and one positive hit to every Cabilis faction except for the necros, with no negative hits to any faction. The trick is that there are wandering Crusaders that come very close while you are feeding him the chips. In order to do this safely, first explore Mozo's area thoroughly while invis. Learn exactly where the Cabilis zone is; you can zone safely if you get attacked, as long as you don't go too far from the zone on the other side. When you are ready to start, put up your illusion if necessary. The first time you try this, you might also want to buff up, particularly with sow, until you have stood in position uninvis while the Crusaders walked by without agroing. They will come unnervingly close to you, but will not agro if you are in exactly the right place. While invis, position yourself next to Trooper Mozo, between him and the wall at his side, northwest of him. You do NOT want to be at the wall behind him, between him and the zone. Stand right up against that wall alongside Mozo, as close to the wall as you can get and as close to Mozo as you can get without putting space between yourself and the wall. Face Mozo and drop invis. Duck and tap your forward arrow ever so slightly, taking a tiny step forward. Pick up a bone chip on your cursor. Attempt to give it to Trooper Mozo. You will need to do this a few times before you get close enough, but you want to try after every step so you stay as far back as possible. You do have a little bit of leeway, so once you learn about where you need to be you will be better able to eyeball it. But be careful, because it's not a lot of leeway and those Crusaders are high level shadowknights with harm touch that hurts! Not to mention the fact that the Troopers will assist the Crusaders if they agro.

Once you start doing this, you will need to give Mozo approximately 6000 bone chips to become dubious with most of the rest of Cabilis. Yes, that is 30 full 10-slot bags of bone chips. And that is just to get where you don't have to sneak around as much anymore. You will still need a few more bags of chips after that to max out your factions. Keep in mind that these numbers are only a very rough approximation, as your race and diety will affect how each of the factions within Cabilis will react to you. For example, shadowknights may tolerate trolls sooner than they would guktans, while monks may react to both trolls and guktans the same. I made up that example, but is the kind of thing that happens. But really, with the vast numbers of bone chips we're talking about, a few hundred here or there isn't much. Just remember that you need to con every single faction individually whenever you want to know for sure where you stand. It is also true that different factions may max at different levels, again depending on your race and diety. When I did this as a barbarian, I found that by the time I was maxxed at indifferent with the shaman, I was already apprehensive or better with everyone except the necros. So in my descriptions of how to do things, I will assume that you also are at least non-kos with everyone except the necros. If you don't get that high with the others by the time you max your shaman faction, I recommend taking the little bit of extra time to get them up so that you don't have to worry about getting jumped by things that left me alone when you follow my directions. If one of them maxes out while still kos, you will need to be very careful when doing any of the interactions in Cabilis. More numbers from a paladin's perspective, but with excellent detail, are available on the Paladins of Norrath message board. That writeup is very old but has loads of detail.

It takes quite a lot of time to gather all those bone chips. Some suggested sources include:

There are numerous other quests that you can do out of Cabilis but they generally either require working the other factions up most of the way anyway, or far more time collecting materials. Bone chips or explorer knives are almost certainly going to be best in the end.

It's very possible that you will max your shaman faction before you reach amiable. I did as a barbarian. In that case, you will need to use illusion every time you do a turn-in.

At this point you need to learn your way around Cabilis.

Cabilis

Cabilis is divided into two zones: East Cabilis and West Cabilis. West Cabilis is chock full of necromancers, and therefore probably still very dangerous to the non-iksar shaman. Happily, depending on how you decide to start the cudgel quest, you will need it only a very little or not at all. East Cabilis is the zone you need to learn. From the Field of Bone zone, the shaman guild is the first big building that you see. It will be on the right, with the entrance around the front. You can safely come from the zone up the entrance of the guild and into the first room and do what you need to do with the shaman there. However, there is a cowardly necro upstairs who will not hesitate to sic his high level shadowknight buddy on you if you let him see you. So do not go upstairs (by stepping into the flashy red portals alongside the door) without invis.

If you stand in front of the shaman guild, facing the water, there are an array of houses off to the left. You should be safe in and around any of them, no necros there. To the right of the water, however, there is a necro in the very first building after the shaman guild. He is low level but will send the other, much higher level iksar in the area after you. Never run past that building without invis. I usually just hop in the water in front of the shaman guild and swim way around it. You will probably need to use the ladders scattered around the waterways to get up out of the water. Beyond that building with the necro, the remaining buildings are safe, assuming you don't get within agro range of that first building. After those, there are some vendors on the corner, and the building next to that with wide steps leading down is the bank. You can use that bank once you are dubious or better (with everyone but necros), which may come in very handy if you, like me, are constantly forgetting to prepare your illusion potions in advance or to grab out all the necessary quest items before heading into Cabilis.

Beyond that there is another house and then three more in a row. Those just house some harmless vendors and such. Following the water, next on the right is the monk guild. You won't need any of them, but chances are good they won't mind you being there any more than the other non-necros. Beyond the monk guild you will see some vendors with tents in a central island off to the left. If you continue along the right side of the canal, hugging the right wall, you will eventually zone into West Cabilis, which consists mainly of the necro guild. If you wish to look around in there, put up invis right at the zone and don't let it drop. There are necros all over in there. If, instead of zoning, you cross to the other side of the canal and continue south, you will reach the warrior guild. I haven't explored it thoroughly to see if there are any stray necros, but we don't need it for anything. Either stay out or proceed with caution.

Those are the highlights of Cabilis. EQ Atlas has excellent maps of the surface area if you should want to shop there in town. And you should already have the wonderful Mapfiend maps of all zones, including Cabilis. If you don't, load them now. We'll need them for the few times when we delve underground in Cabilis, but they're great for everywhere else in the world as well.

Iron Cudgel of the Petitioner - Newbie Cudgel

At last, time to get started! The very first step that actually involves a cudgel is getting yourself the newbie weapon. Iksar shaman will start with it. The rest of us need to either multiquest with an iksar shaman or perform a quest to acquire one. The multiquest is easier. Just gather up the quest items for the very first cudgel quest (the three skulls, see that description below for more detail) and go to the turn-in person. Bring a newbie shaman iksar there with their newbie cudgel. Have the newbie shaman hand over their Iron Cudgel of the Petitioner, and then give the turn-in person your skulls. You will get the first quest cudgel, the Iron Cudgel of the Clairvoyant.

Alternatively, you can do the Penance Quest to earn your own cudgel without any multiquesting. This takes longer but can be kind of fun if you enjoy doing things the proper way for the principle of the thing. You will need to have two general inventory spaces open for containers until you finish this step. Enter the shaman guild and you will find Hierophant Zand standing to the right on the raised dias.

You say, 'Hail, Hierophant Zand.'

Hierophant Zand raises his hand and looks up. 'May the wisdom of the ancients lead your soul to suffering and everlasting pain. Such is the will of Cazic-Thule. I see something in your eyes, Verdandi. Have you lost something... your cudgel perhaps?'

You say, 'Yes'

Hierophant Zand says 'That is most unfortunate for you. Your suffering will be extended on this plane, until you find your way back to us. Take this and read it on your way to speak with the Toilmaster. He will guide you. Yesssss...' You feel as if something is peering at you from behind the speaker's soulless eyes as the last letter he speaks transforms into a sigh.'

He gives you a ragged book. The Toilmaster usually inhabits the building right next to the shaman guild, containing the troublesome necro. You can't deal with him there, unless you have necro faction or a skilled mezzer who could work out how to keep things calm. Fortunately, the Toilmaster periodically strolls next door to the building with the walls caved in at approx 820, -20, where the froglok slaves sometimes stand and froak. It is still pretty close to the necro so you might want to lurk back in the roofed portion of the house while you wait for the Toilmaster to arrive. Once he is there you can carefully scoot close enough to deal with him. Give him the book from Zand and he will hand you back Rites of Exoneration, another book. That one instructs you to ask him for your Hammer of Exoneration and your bag, a Penance Bag.

You say, 'Hail, The Toilmaster.'

The Toilmaster says 'Do not bother me unless you wish to join the chain gang. Now go away or I shall have my slaves chop you as they chop this granite!'

Give him the book from Hierophant Zand.

The Toilmaster looks at the tome and speaks to you, scowling, 'Very well, broodling, I have a task for you. I should make you work at the feet of my froglok slaves, crushing granite, but the lore of the brood has a specific rite for this situation. Take this book and learn the will of Cazic-Thule. Read it and ask me any questions you may have before you start your penance. It would be a shame for you to fail at this task as well... though I wouldn't mind destroying you.'

You say, 'I need a hammer of exoneration.'

The Toilmaster hands you a massive hammer and says, 'So, you can read. Good for you. Don't think that you're going to make an impression on me with that rubbish. Let's see if you can handle this hammer like you can that book, whelp.'

You say, 'I need a bag.'

The Toilmaster turns his head to focus on you and hands you a dusty bag. He then returns to looking into the distance, just over your left shoulder.

Now we need to make our one and only jaunt into West Cabilis. Unless you have necromancer faction, you may wish to bring an iksar illusion potion or enchanter to project iksar illusion on you. I don't know if this is necessary, as the mortician is a merchant and wouldn't agro you anyway. He may give you what you need without it. But he may not, requiring you to make another trip with illusion ready. Either way, from the shaman guild, head south past the bank and monk guild and hug that right wall as it turns west to the zone. Put up sow and invis, and if you trust your invis as little as I do, some buffs. Tiptoe into the zone, put up your illusion if desired, and reinvis. Hug the right wall proceeding forward again, until the very first building on the right. Go into that building, and the only npc you should see is the Mortician. Go up and stand in front of him and drop your invis.

You say, 'Hail, a mortician.'

a mortician stares at you with hollow eye sockets. As he opens his jaw to speak, you are overcome by the foul smell of a thousand rotted corpses. 'What is your desire, master?'

You say, 'I desire a mortar and pestle.'

a mortician moves with a mixture of creaks and clicks and produces a grotesque looking mortar and pestle set. He places the items in your hands and motions indicating you dismissal. You can feel the vile power of your god moving throughout the material that makes up the two items.

He gives you a Grotesque Mortar and Pestle. Put invis back up and get the heck out of there. Now you start the tedious part. You need to equip the hammer and hit things with it until it procs 54 times. Each time it procs you will get a Bone Fragment. Put them unstacked into the mortar and pestle until you have eight, and then combine them to make a Powdered Bone. Put that into the Penance Bag. Continue making Bone Fragments and combining them, until you have seven Powdered Bone. The hammer has only 4 damage, so just find a creature that has enough hit points to last a little and won't hurt you too badly. I used spiders in Velketor's. Having a decent two hand blunt skill would probably speed this up quite a bit. According to the people who crunch numbers on this sort of thing, higher dexterity will help you get more frequent procs but haste won't.

Once you have your seven powdered bones, you need a Flask of Bloodwater. This is sold by numerous vendors in the Cabilis area as well as one in Fungus Grove. Combine the bloodwater in your penance bag with the seven unstacked powdered bone to make a Filled Penance Bag. Return to Hierophant Zand and give him both the filled bag and the book from the Taskmaster to get your Iron Cudgel of the Petitioner.

Hierophant Zand takes the bag and tome from you and in return gives you the item that you have been thinking of all of this time. Lucky, you... you have earned a second chance. Praise Cazic-Thule!

Iron Cudgel of the Clairvoyant - First Cudgel

Start this cudgel by speaking to Hierophant Oxyn, who is in the shaman guild along with Hierophant Zand.

You say, 'Hail, Hierophant Oxyn.'

Hierophant Oxyn says 'Greetings, and may the pain of the ancients guide you. You have come to us for guidance, have you not? We are the Hierophants of Cabilis and we guide the young Scaled Mystics. All petitioners shall speak with me of [temple tasks].'

If you follow the "temple tasks" line of conversation, he'll first send you off on the Cursed Wafers quest. You can do that first and then be given the cudgel quest, or you can cut straight to the chase by asking about the cudgel.

You say, 'What Iron Cudgel of the Clairvoyant?'

Hierophant Oxyn shakes his head and waves a finger in your face. If you are looking to be handed the Iron Cudgel of the Clairvoyant then you are sadly mistaken. Perhaps if you were to gather a few [lost skulls] for the temple we may find you worthy to wield one.

You say, 'What lost skulls?'

Hierophant Oxyn says 'You must have heard of the Trilac Brotherhood's disappearance. They are the skulls of three soon-to-be ancients. They were taken from this temple by a silent intruder. Crusaders are always on duty. I do not know how they got into our vault. Every petitioner is ordered to search for the three skulls and return them to me along with their petitioner cudgel and then they may become clairvoyants.'

The outcasts can spawn either in the Lake of Ill Omen or in the sewers in Cabilis. They wander around the newbie area of the Lake of Ill Omen, so finding them there can be tough. Or, you can try the sewers where we'll know exactly where to find them. You will want to be at least level 5-10 before attempting the sewers, where there are two different places you can try.

The first option in the sewers is where I went. To get there, exit the shaman guild, put up some form of underwater breathing if you can, hop into the water, and swim out into the water and around the corner to the left. At approximately 520, -480 you will see an underwater tunnel leading east. Swim into it. There are various low level fish and other critters swimming around in the passage that may agro if you're not invis, and you will see openings above every so often. You can use those to grab a breath if you need. Swim all the way to the end and hop out of the water. There will be two low level creatures there that may agro. They are placeholders for the Iksar Outcasts that drop the skulls we need. They are very fast respawns, but the Outcasts are rare spawns. Each Outcast will drop one of the three skulls, named Logrin Skull, Morgl Skull, and Waz Skull. The skull drops are random, so eventually you'll probably start getting the same one or two over and over before you finally get the last one you need. Reports are that outcasts will only spawn around that particular pool and not in any of the other rooms, not even the hidden room to the back of that pool room. I didn't spend a lot of time in any other rooms but didn't see any outcasts anywhere else. I did spend a couple hours keeping both that pool room and the hidden room off of it clear, but only ever got outcasts in the pool room. If you have a pet spell use it, sit down in the corner, and start working that /pet attack key.

The other location you could try in the sewers was described to me by Venomwulf of Bristlebane. He states that there is a regular spawn of the iksar outcast spawns in a small room in the sewers below East Cabilis at -896, -660, -107. To get there, (invis if you're kos to necros), take one of the flashy red teleporters in the shaman guild. Go east and take the ladders all the way down. From there, follow the right wall until you end at a room with broken ledges on either side of the room and a hole in the middle. Jump into the hole. You'll need about 120 hps to survive this jump. Once down you'll be in a room with a small pool of water with a boulder in its center. Med up here if necessary, as there's another fall ahead. From there, walk into the only adjacent room, which is filled with boulders. There is a mark written on the left wall that identifies a hidden passage. Go through the mark on the wall (a one-way door, so no going back that way) into a set of hallways with pits hidden in the floor. Follow the hallways until you fall into the first pit, which will drop you into the Iksar outcast spawn room. At this point there are two rooms: one with a stairway up out of it and one without a stairway. The outcast spawns in a spot on the lefthand side of the entrance of the room without a stairway. This spawn is on a 17 minute timer and will sometimes have placeholders. Venomwulf recommends this spot because it produced the skulls more quickly for him, as well as because other regular spawns include decayed skeletons which drop bone chips for Trooper Mozo and mosquitos with wings for the Cursed Wafer quest. The highest mob here should be the level 8 giant swamp leech. You can return to the streets of Cabilis by following the stairs up and out of the second room. Take the ramps to the room with the twoledges. Walk around the outside of the room to the other ledge and take the ladders up and out.

Once you have your three skulls, return to the shaman guild. If you are multiquesting this step with a newbie who has the Cudgel of the Petitioner, get them ready. Put up your illusion if necessary. If you have your own Cudgel of the Petitioner, give it and the three skulls to Hierophant Oxyn. If you are multiquesting, tell your newbie to hand over the cudgel. Then turn in the skulls yourself.

Hierophant Oxyn says 'Excellent!! You have proven yourself worthy to wield the iron cudgel of the clairvoyant. As a clairvoyant, I feel I can trust you, so I will tell you that the issue of the missing skulls is a [much larger problem] than last stated.'

Iron Cudgel of the Seer - Second Cudgel

You say, 'what much larger problem?'

Hierophant Oxyn seems unsure of your prowess. 'Hmmm. First you shall go after the two skulls of the Cleansers of the Outlands. If you find them, bring them back unbroken and then I shall trust you. Hand me both skulls and your iron cudgel of the clairvoyant and I will know you are prepared.'

One of the necessary skulls drops intact while the other drops in two pieces that must be repaired via pottery, with the help of some foraged mendglow clay. There is some good basic information as well as vendor information and recipes at EQ Traders. The guides may be a little out of date but are just fine for the basics. And you only need basic skill, maybe as high as 50 or so. The trivial for the quest recipe here is unknown but is definitely very low. There is always a chance of failure, but getting your skill up a bit will give you a good shot at it.

So, once you've worked your pottery up a bit and have gathered all these items, bring them to a pottery wheel. Put the jawless skull, mandible, and mendglow clay into the wheel and combine them, making a Skull with II. If you fail this combine you will need to gather all the ingredients again, although it may be a no fail recipe.

Return to Cabilis and head to the shaman guild again. Give the Skull with I, Skull with II, and your Iron Cudgel of the Clairvoyant to Hierophant Oxyn.

Hierophant Oxyn says 'We are in your debt, Verdandi. You are truly the one who shall collect all lost ancient skulls. Take your weapon. Go to Hierophant Zand and he shall guide you further. Tell him you are [the chosen savior].'

Iron Cudgel of the Mystic - Third Cudgel

You say, 'I am the chosen savior.'

Hierophant Zand closes his eyes and bows before you. 'I am honored to meet the one who shall pledge his life to the return of the skulls of the ancients. However, I must see proof of your prowess first. Go to the outlands and retrieve one froglok hexdoll, and no, they are not found on frogloks. They are shaman dolls made by the goblin tribes.'

You can get your A Froglok Hex Doll off of a goblin hextracer in Warslik's Woods. The hextracers are low level goblins that wander around the areas that have other varieties of low level goblins. They are reportedly common around the giant fort area as well as just outside Cabilis. I found my hextracer near the lake in the southeast of the zone. With the hilly terrain and thick trees, a tracker is strongly recommended to speed this step up. If you're without a tracker, you might want to stick to killing the goblins just outside the Cabilis zone until a hextracer spawns. The hex doll is either extremely common or always drops.

Take the hex doll to Zand and:

Hierophant Zand says 'Fine work! I hope for your sake, you did not purchase it from a brave adventurer. Take this note to the one for whom it is written. This lizard has knowledge of a large number of skulls.'

The letter is written to Crusader Quarg in the Field of Bone. He should be all too familiar if you used bone chips to improve your faction. He wanders around outside Cabilis, back and forth past our old buddy Trooper Mozo. You could either wait near Mozo until Quarg comes by or look around and in the buildings on the right as you exit Cabilis. You will need to have an inventory space open to hold a container before you give Quarg your note. You may wish to collect the items he wants before talking to him, if you would rather not have to store the container while doing this extremely tedious part.

You say, 'Hail, Crusader Quarg'

Crusader Quarg stands at attention and salutes you. It would seem that he takes his job quite seriously. 'Do not fear, feeble soul. The Crusaders of Greenmist are on duty.'

Feeble soul, indeed. Give him the note.

Crusader Quarg says 'At last!! The last three sent were not of sufficient power to brave the evils of the tower. Here is your container. I was to travel with you, but Warlord Zyzz insists that I stay on post. The skulls you seek are the ones belonging to the [caste of bone brethren]. Combine the five skulls of the caste and the one belonging to the leader inside the box and bring to me the full box along with your iron cudgel of the seer.'

He gives you a six-slot container.

You say, 'what caste of bone brethren?'

Crusader Quarg says, 'A small caste of shaman priests who crushed the forces of bone. They vanished decades ago in the Field of Bone.'

This is one of the most notorious parts of the cudgel quests. Prepare yourself for a long camp and head to Kurn's Tower. The skulls we need drop off of the Undead Crusader, approximately level 15. He only spawns at the top of the south stairs from the third to fourth floor. There is only one wanderer on the steps, but if you are close to the skeletons in level you may have adds if you only ever pull the Crusader and his placeholder. He is extremely rare, and drops one skull each spawn. You need six skulls: five of Iksar Skull with an 'X' (not lore) and one of Iksar Skull with an 'X' (lore). Note that none of them are No Drop, so auctioning to buy them (and watching the Bazaar) might save you some effort. Sit on the stairs where you can see the static skeletons at the top on either side of the stairs, and kill the wanderers that spawn at the top and on the stairs with you. Eventually, one of the spawns at the top will be an Undead Crusader. Kill him, loot his skull, and sit back down to wait for another. And another. And another. And another....

There are also numerous reports that the Undead Crusader also can spawn on the stairs that lead up to the rooms on the third floor. Once spawned they may also wander the third floor hallway. You may wish to make it a habit to head there after each kill at the first spot and clear everything on those third floor stairs and that's wandering through the hallways in that area.

Lastly, there is one report that the Undead Crusader can spawn on and around the stairs leading to the second floor. As this is an isolated report that sounds a lot like the report for the third floor, it may be that the person reporting this meant to refer to the stairs to the third floor rather than the second. However, if you get desperate, it may be worth a shot.

Once you get your six skulls, head back to Quarg. Get the container from him if you haven't already and combine the skulls in it, to make your Full C.O.B.B. Chest. Give this to Quarg along with your Iron Cudgel of the Seer.

Crusader Quarg says 'The temple will be pleased. As instructed by the hierophants, here is your iron cudgel of the mystic. You have done so well that I must ask you to also [collect the crusaders of Rok Nilok].'

Iron Cudgel of the Prophet - Fourth Cudgel

You say, 'I will collect the crusaders of Rok Nilok.'

Crusader Quarg says 'Take this chest. Inside, you shall combine the skull of their leader and at least five of the caste members. You must then go to the swamp garrison and deliver the full chest along with your iron cudgel of the mystic to Mystic Dovan. Go to him now and inquire of the crusaders of Rok Nilok.'

Oh goodie, more skulls. Well, at least you're out of Kurn's. Quarg gives you another six-slot container to hold this set of skulls. If you wish, you can again wait to give Quarg the trigger phrase for the container once you already have the skulls.

Mystic Dovan is in the Swamp of No Hope and is only up late at night. From the Cabilis zone, he is upstairs in the first building on the right, on the balcony.

You say, 'Hail, Mystic Dovan.'

Mystic Dovan shows the signs of a great mystic. You can feel the power resonating from his aura. 'Greetings and may the cursed blessings of Cazic-Thule be yours. What may I do for you this fine evening? Perhaps I can [cure disease] or [heal] you, perhaps even [purge toxins] from your system?'

You say, 'what of the crusaders of Rok Nilok?'

Mystic Dovan lowers his head in sorrow. 'Let us have a moment of peace. I cannot find the words to describe the unspeakable act of the gods which took the lives of the legendary Crusaders of Rok Nilok. You must find the answers for yourself. All I can do is await their return.'

Off to Warslik's Woods. This step will take quite a while too, but at least lets you have some action. We need the big goblin fort guarding the bridge across the river in the north of the zone, at approximately 3000, 100. Keep a careful eye on that river gorge while you're finding the fort and killing the goblins, as there are no guard rails and it's a heck of a drop.

Our goal is to collect five Tiny Glowing Skull (not lore) and one Tiny Glowing Skull (lore). They drop off of goblin bloodtracers. The bloodtracers can spawn in place of any of the other goblins in the fort, so all you need to do is start killing goblins. Bloodtracers are rare spawns, and of course the lore skull is rarer than the others. There are numerous kinds of goblins in the fort, some of which are as high as level 35. They are fairly close together, so adds are likely even if you are much higher than them. At 61 I just sent my pet on a rampage and was able to clear the fort just a couple minutes before it started respawning. It took a few clearings to get all of my skulls. Even if you are well above the goblins in level, some buffs might make things go a little smoother. You will still need to heal every so often. The toughest goblins, including the named Grachnist the Destroyer, might be worth slowing.

Once you have your skulls, return to Mystic Dovan. Get the box if you don't have it already and combine the skulls inside to make Full C.O.R.N. Chest. Give it to Mystic Dovan along with your Iron Cudgel of the Mystic.

Mystic Dovan his voice booms loudly and does not sound the same as before. 'You have brought the skulls back to the empire. For this you shall be rewarded. You are now a prophet of the Temple of Terror. Go and find the Skulls of Di Nozok. I shall wait within Zand. Bring them along with your iron cudgel of the prophet.'

He'll wait within Zand? Eeeeew.

Iron Cudgel of the Channeler - Fifth Cudgel

These next two skulls will take several steps. One of them is a simple drop, but the other comes from an iksar who requires you to bring him two keys plus 400 gold. The keys, in turn, drop as one intact and the other in three pieces. You use the second piece of mendglow clay to put the three pieces back together.

The first skull, Iksar Skull Helm, comes from sarnaks in the Lake of Ill Omen. While they are rare drops from several varieties of sarnaks, they'll drop every time off of sarnak adherents. Adherents can be found in the hallways and rooms built into the hillside of the fort and are as high as level 29.

For the second skull, the first drop is the Dai Nozok skull canopic, which drops off Overseer Dlubish in the Frontier Mountains goblin caves at approx -2000, 2000. He may be a random spawn from any of the other goblins or may only spawn at the intersection between the second and third chamber. Either way, he's rare. While you are there, kill any goblin rockchanters you see and save a tan colored stone drop if you get one. It is for the sixth cudgel. Also, if you get any spawns of "an Iksar Slave", see the details of the sixth cudgel for how to determine whether he is the Iksar Slave you will need. If he is, get his skull now if you can.

Next head out to the Swamp of No Hope. You need to kill froglok ton warriors and loot four different drops from them. It seems that froglok ton warriors from anywhere in the zone will work. But as the ton warriors are somewhat rare and getting one of each of the four different drops will take a lot of warriors, you may wish to find an open stretch of ground and kill everything that moves to spawn warriors. One commonly used spot that worked for me is the iksar brigand camp at 2600, 100. I killed every wanderer I laid eyes on, particularly the frogloks. The three pieces are the Piece of Totem (Bottom), Piece of Totem (Middle), and Piece of Totem (Top). The intact totem that you also need is the Ton Warrior Totem. You may spend several hours out there before you get your last piece.

Now you need that other Mendglow Clay, same as the one we used in the second cudgel quest. Combine the three Pieces of Totem with the Mendglow Clay in a pottery wheel to make the second Ton Warrior Totem. Take your two Ton Warrior Totems, Dai Nozok skull canopic and 400 gold pieces out to the Overthere to the evil outpost. The iksar we talk to is indifferent to all, so no illusion is necessary. If you are kos in the outpost, you can reach the iksar from the PoK book by putting up invis and heading north to the water. Swim out to the far end of the wall and then go around it and come back to shore hugging the other side. Stay along the wall until you reach level ground and you'll see Galdon Vok Nir tucked into a corner there. Give him the two totems, canopic, and gold, and he will give you in return the second Iksar Skull for the quest.

Back to Cabilis! Give Hierophant Zand the two Iksar Skulls and your cudgel of the prophet.

Hierophant Zand closes his eyes and reopens them. They have no pupils. He speaks and you hear his voice echo. 'We are Di Nozok. You have earned the weapon of a channeler. We hope to fill your thoughts with ours some day. Go and seek out Dexl. We send you to him. Farewell, Verdandi, Channeler of Cabilis.'

Freaky! Take your shiny new cudgel and run, Channeler of Cabilis.

Iron Cudgel of the Hierophant - Sixth Cudgel

For this quest you get to collect three (surprise!) skulls. You can get them in a different order than they are presented here, if you wish. Hierophant Dexl is underground in the shaman guild. To get to him, go to the main room of the shaman guild and put up invis. Walk into one of the flashy red portals alongside the entrance of the room to be beamed upstairs. Turn to the right (west) and walk straight ahead into the round room with the roof. There is that pesky necro up there, so be very watchful of your invis. Jump down the hole in the floor to the lower level, and then again through several more levels until you reach the bottom. You are safe down here if your invis should drop now. Enter the hallway and go through the first door on your left. Drop invis if you still have it.

You say, 'Hail, Hierophant Dexl'

Hierophant Dexl seems to be preocupied. He is examining an egg. 'What?!! Who has [sent] you to me? Bah!! Away with you.' He ignores you and continues chanting.

You say, 'Di Nozok sent me.'

Hierophant Dexl drops the egg he was holding. Egg yolk splatters on your foot. His eyes roll back into his head. He speaks, but his voice is that of a female. 'I await you, Verdandi. My sisters and I yearn for the return of our skulls. We are the [Sisters of Scale]. Find us and bring to this hierophant our skulls and your iron cudgel of the Channeler. Go.'

You say, 'who are the Sisters of Scale?'

Hierophant Dexl wipes egg yolk from his clothing. 'My, what a mess!! Hmmph!! What did you say? Sisters of Scale? They were a legendary trio of mystics. We once had their skulls sealed within this temple, but now they are lost. I sent a channeler to retrieve them. His name was Vagnar. I am sure he shall find them.'

You say, 'who is Vagnar?'

Hierophant Dexl says 'He's a capable channeler, I trust he knows where to look and will prepare himself. Any competent servant of our Lord would prepare potions and supplies before going on such a quest. If he doesn't come back, it's no great loss, he wasn't Hierophant material anyway.'

If you wish to follow the trail of the quest lore, you can head out to Jaxxt, the alchemy vendor in West Cabilis on the island just across the zone from East Cabilis.

You say, 'who is Vagnar?'

Jaxxtz says 'Vagnar? I don't recall.....Unless Vagnar was that shaman supposedly on some quest to save our entire race from total destruction..someone always on one of those. He bought some charms to ward of [Dragon kin]. He's most likely in the belly of some beast now.'

You say, 'what Dragon kin?'

Jaxxtz says 'Yes he said he needed to steal secrets from the hated Sarnaks to aid him in his true quest. He said the sarnak know ways to cleanse the mind from intrusion, he would say no more.'

Sarnak adherents in the Lake of Ill Omen sometimes drop a scroll that is written in the Lizardman language. When translated, it reads:

Xinth
From Opal Slush and Dristilate shall come Xinth. From Sarnak Nightdust, Gorge Moss, and Sponge Mushroom shall come Opal Slush. From Firiona Drixie Dust, Stoneleer Emerald Plume, and Slate Chant Rock shall come Dristilate.

You don't need to actually acquire a copy of that scroll, by the way.

As you see, a big chunk of this cudgel quest is in running around collecting all the ingredients. The combines require alchemy and can be failed, but have very low trivials. My advice would be to get a minimum of 50 skill, or 100+ to be even safer. Alchemy is an expensive skill, so weigh your wealth versus the time you're willing to spend in regathering ingredients if necessary.

Combine these ingredients in your medicine bag as follows:
Pouch of Dust + Gorge Moss + Sponge Mushroom = Opal Slush
Firiona Drixie Dust + Stoneleer Emerald Plume + A Chant Rock = Dristilate
Opal Slush + Dristilate = A Potion of Swirling Liquid
The Potion of Swirling Liquid identifies as "The Potion of Xinth".

The potion is undrinkable, as if you would even want to with ingredients like those. The one being desperate enough to try it is the Coerced Channeler in Dalnir. Dalnir is off of Warslik's Woods, down a tunnel that starts at point A on this map. The tunnel can be hard to find with all the tree branches waving around at ground level. Keep looking, it's there. When you find the tunnel, put up invis if you haven't already. Enter and take the first right. Proceed to the end of that tunnel where there is a large room with a few brutes. At the far end there is a pool of water. Walk into it and you'll discover that it's actually an illusion hiding the zone to Dalnir. Buff up now and head on in.

You can use your in game maps, or consult this one. You are at the entrance to the left of number 1, and need to reach number 4. The creatures in the zone get as high as the low 30s. They are sometimes fairly close together and still agroed me at 61. Once you reach point 4 on that map, you need to drop down the opening. Once you drop, you are at point 4 on this map and will be agroed by 2-4 kly (sarnaks) and coerced people. From there, work your way to room number 2. Keep that room cleared and eventually the Coerced Channeler will spawn. Give him the Potion of Swirling Liquid.

a coerced channeler begins to shudder and shake violently. He collapses and looks up at you. He hands you a skull and runs off. You hear his voice echoing through the halls. 'Go to where the pines have been smashed. Must reach great heights!'

You are given the first of the "An Iksar Skull" we seek. The coerced channeler turns into Vagnar the Channeler, who wanders off to despawn elsewhere. You are done here, head on out.

As a side note, the skull we were just given is one of three that we will need for the next cudgel. The three will will need are, with the indentify information in brackets, An Iksar Skull [Engraving ' :-) '], An Iksar Skull [Engraving ' >:) '], and An Iksar Skull [Engraving ' =P ']. I'm not sure which one comes at which step of this quest, or what the meaning (if any) of the emoticon engravings might be, but those are the items we will ultimately need for this cudgel.

Next you would head to the Atheling Plague in Burning Woods. Because reaching him is a real pain, I recommend collecting what he needs before going to talk to him. What he needs is the skull of a prisoner of the goblins. He is a rare spawn in the goblin caves in Frontier Mountains where we found Overseer Dlubish and the rockchanters. Somewhere in there you will find two iksar slaves with slightly varying names. The one on the right is the crazed iksar for the monk shackle quest. You can ignore him. The one on the left will be either a shadowknight in yellow armor or will be our shaman. You will need to kill the shadowknight placeholder to get the shaman. When you do get the right iksar to spawn, you can hail him if you wish:

an Iksar slave peers up at you. His face is covered with grime and he shows scars from goblin whips. He shakes his head and goes back to his thoughts.

You say, 'who are you?'

an Iksar slave says 'It has been a long time since I have been asked that. I am Digalis, mystic of Cabilis.'

Poor guy. Kill him and loot his Iksar Skull. You take faction hits for killing him. The Atheling Plague is not a nice guy, even by Cabilisian standards. The hits you take aren't big, but might knock you back a level and require you to top off with more explorer knives or bone chips, especially if you're only barely acceptable to any of the iksar factions his death affects.

Now for the tricky bit. You need to reach the Atheling Plague, a sarnak high in the east tower of the sarnak fort just outside Chardok, above the outer fort wall entrance. He is alone in his tower and is indifferent to all, so don't worry about him just yet. What you need to worry about is getting to him, as the usual methods like stairs are noticably absent. There is supposedly a quest you can do for a key that will allow you to click something somewhere that will take you up there. Alas, that is all the detail I could find. Alternatively, the most common method is to fire up levitate and some speed spells, climb up the mountainside to the east as high as you can without getting too far away, and attempt to run to the room. If you have the least bit of lag, however, you may be physically unable to reach it before you descend too far. In that case, you could try what I did, having a mage with Call of the Hero and a speedy machine make the run and then CoH you into the room. Having a wizard Gravity Flux you up there has been known to work as well. Just be careful not to agro the sarnaks at the nearby archway, as all of them at once may be a handful even at very high levels.

Once you are up there, consider binding right there in the tower. Some shaman have reported that during the fight to come they were teleported by the Atheling Plague down to the room full of sarnaks just outside the Chardok zone. They say they were put in a safe spot but then had to get back up the tower to finish the fight, or start over by getting another skull. This does not seem to be a common problem but apparently can happen. If you have any trouble at all getting into the tower, binding is definitely a good idea, provided you are confident that you can handle the level 35-40 mob you will fight. It has been reported as soloable by a 44 shaman, in spite of being healed by the Atheling Plague during the fight. Bring help if you want to bind but are at all concerned about your ability to solo it.

You say, 'Hail, Atheling Plague'

Atheling Plague grins devilishly. ' Ahh!! A conversationalist. How good to meet you, Verdandi. Yes. I have heard of you. Go ahead and ask for that which has brought you to my tower and emboldened you to slay my weaker minions.'

You say, 'Give me the skull of the Sisters of Scale'

Atheling Plague begins to laugh and smile. His teeth are stained with blood. 'What a coincidence! I, too, seek a skull. Perhaps you might help me [obtain the skull]. Perhaps then you shall have the skull you desire.'

You say, 'I will help you obtain the skull'

Atheling Plague says 'I am sure you would not mind removing the head of a scaled mystic. I hope not. There is an old Iksar who once called me slave. Now he shall adorn my wall, mounted on a fine plaque. His name is Digalis. Find him. Do not return until your task is complete.'

Give him the Iksar Skull.

Atheling Plague tosses the skull over the edge of the tower. 'Excellent. You show signs of a true Iksar slayer. Too, bad I have already given the skull of the Sister of Scale to another. Perhaps you would like to meet him before he departs. Say hello, Doval.'

Clerk Doval says 'I will slay all in the name of Overking Bethezid!! He shall deliver power to me.'

Clerk Doval is a traitor to Cabilis and has our second skull. Move as far from the Atheling Plague as you can before fighting Doval, to reduce your chances of being teleported out. When you fight him, attempt to keep him as far from the Atheling Plague as possible. Try to kill him fast, as he will get healed by the Atheling Plague. The Atheling itself shouldn't actually attack you, however. Loot the second "An Iksar Skull".

Now, for the last skull. The trail of lore to this point is somewhat hazy, but talking to Klok Poklon in the Tink n' Babble near the shaman guild in Cabilis (with the necro, those without necro faction should stay away) yields the following:

You say, 'who are the Sisters of Scale?'

Klok Poklon says, 'Hmm, yes, the Babble around here is that one of the Klok's in the Lake Garrison has one of the Sister's of Scale Skull up for Auction. The Temple will bury him when they hear of it!'

The Klok we need is Klok Sargin, who is on top of one of the buildings just outside Cabilis in the Lake of Ill Omen.

You say, 'Hail, Klok Sargin'

Klok Sargin displays a fine selection of weapons for your perusal. 'Greetings, O ye of heavy coin! Please examine my wares closely. Only the finest weapons will protect you in the outlands.'

You say, 'who are the Sisters of Scale?'

Klok Sargin says 'Looking for the skull I had for sale? I am afraid I sold it to a staunch lizard champion. I would gladly give you his name if you would do me a [slight favor].'

You say, 'what slight favor?'

Klok Sargin says 'The lake garrison has requested that I work on a helm similar to the ones worn by sarnak dragoons. The problem is.. I need one to examine. You go get me one and I will tell you who purchased the skull.'

The helm we need is the Sarnak Dragoon Helm that drops off of sarnak dragoons back at the sarnak fort where we found the adherents. It is No Rent, so do not go after it until you are ready to turn it in (including any preparations for illusion to do the turn in, if necessary). The dragoons are somewhat rarer but should be around. It appears they may be a little more common deeper in the tunnels of the fort. If you cannot find any, start killing sarnaks deep inside the fort and eventually dragoons will spawn. Once you get your helm, immediately run to give it to Klok Sargin.

Klok Sargin appears a little shaken. He has a few bruises on his face. 'Uhh. Thanks. I sort of told the lizard who bought the skull that you were asking for him, and, well, he was kinda mad, and... Verdandi, meet Bruiser.'

The iksar Bruiser will spawn now. He claims to be level 30 and certainly isn't any harder than that, for all of Klok Sargin's cowardice.

Bruiser Noz is a battle-scarred lizard with arms the size of tree trunks. He approaches and speaks. You feel the lager-tinged breeze blast your skin. 'Stay out of this, Klok !! I didn't spend 30 seasons in the legion to be pestered by the likes of you!! Here I am, you little croak!! You want my skull? Come and get it!!'

Klok Sargin shakes with fear. A dark stain begins to spread across the front of his trousers. 'Ye.. Ye.. Yes.. Yes, Bruiser.'

Wuss. Kill Bruiser. Loot the third "An Iksar Skull". Gather up your other two skulls and your fifth cudgel and head back to Dexl. Give him the three skulls and cudgel.

Hierophant Dexl goes into a trance and speaks with the voice of an ancient. 'You have returned the skulls of the Sisters of Scale. For this you shall be rewarded. Take this hierophant's weapon. May you use it to smite the foes of our people.' Dexl comes out of the trance. 'What?!! Whew. Hey!! Where is my cudgel?'

SkyIron Cudgel of the Arisen - Seventh Cudgel

We are left without any further instructions from the quest givers so far. Asking around Cabilis, however, will net some results with Hierophant Granix.

You say, 'Hail, Hierophant Granix'

Hierophant Granix says, 'Leave me in peace Verdandi, I have little desire for company now. The Faceless sends visions to me that may hold the fate of our race in sway.'

You say, What visions?

Hierophant Granix says, 'The spirits tell me of strange happenings around the ancient city of Charasis. None of the mystics that have been sent to investigate have returned. Something is surely happening in the ancient tombs of that city. I pray to our lord for some way to calm the tortured spirits of our fallen brothers that haunt the Howling Stones.'

You must now gather some support and head to Howling Stones. You will need to quest for the key if you haven t already. (While you re getting the fang for the key, grab a Shrunken Iksar Skull Necklace from Xalgoz as well, they should drop every time. You ll need it for the eighth cudgel.) In theory, the gathering of these skulls is probably soloable if you are at least in your 60s, a highly skilled soloer, and familiar enough with the zone to deal with the pit traps and one way passages. In practice, the multimob pulls and rare-ish drops will make this far more pleasant if you have even one or two people for help and company. A solid, skilled group could be comfortable here down into the 50 s. If nothing else, a lockpicker or someone with a master key gathered from hunting the zone is strongly recommended to save you a lot of dungeon crawling to work around the locked doors between the entrance and the two furthest wings with the best drops.

The evidence that will help Hierophant Granix is A Dusty Iksar Skull. While you are there, you will also almost certainly want to go ahead and collect the skulls for the second part of this quest, four of the Glowing Iksar Skulls that drop from the same mobs. The skulls are off of helot skeletons, sepulcher skeletons, and undertaker skeletons in the south and east wings. It is not clear whether these mobs are only ever found in those wings or if the skeletons are just much more common there. If you want to try your luck in the entrance or north and west wings, you will definitely need a lot more time than you would taking a group to the south or east wings. The skulls drop randomly off of the skeletons mentioned. All are No Drop, but only the Dusty is Lore, since you need four of the Glowing variety. When you have all five, head back to Granix and give him only the Dusty Iksar Skull.

Hierophant Granix peers at the skull intently. 'There is strange magic in this skull Verdandi, what ever necromancer animated this skeleton was a powerful warlock indeed. I sense the power of several ancients in this relic. Take this skull to Oracle Qulin in the field of bone, he may be able to perform the ritual which will free this ancient's spirit from the mortal realm.'

Hierophant Granix gives you the skull back. Oracle Qulin is on the beach at the north end of Field of Bone. There is a fight coming, so read ahead before going in case you ll want help.

Oracle Qulin says 'Greetings Verdandi, here to meditate upon the wisdom of the ancients? These waters seem to channel their power and knowledge into the mortal realm.'

Give him the Dusty Skull.

Oracle Qulin runs his scaled fingers slowly over the cracked, brittle skull. 'Granix did well to send you to me, I may yet be able to recover the spirit of this ancient and set it free. Come! I shall need your help with this ritual.'

Oracle Qulin will walk down to the water's edge. He will then go through the following, each approximately half a minute to a minute apart. Wait patiently and stay alert. It's pretty neat if you pay attention to what he's doing.

Oracle Qulin dips the skull in the crystal waters. He lifts the skull over his head and stands completely still, allowing the water to drip down off the skull down over his body and finally on to the parched sand.'

Oracle Qulin begins to chant. Quietly at first but then louder and faster. He speaks a language you only vaguely recognize. It is the voice and language of the ancient oracles. His voice booms out over the water filling your mind with images of the ancient Sebilisian empire and the great Iksar rulers of old.

Oracle Qulin's voice stops suddenly, leaving the air completely silent. Even the waves seem to have stopped for a moment. You begin to move toward him, but he raises a hand toward you motioning for you to stay still.

Oracle Qulin says 'Suddenly without warning the skull flies from Quilin's hands and flies into the murky waters. It stays submerged for a moment and then flies toward you, but this time an entire corpse is attached to it.'

The Arisen Iksar will spawn soon after that. If you stand a few paces back from Qulin, the Arisen might not agro instantly, buying you time to get a spell off first. He is a shadowknight with a 731 point harm touch. He is reportedly fairly resistant to slow and resistant to the point of immunity to disease and poison. At 64 I equipped dogdog with two gnoll hide lariats and a full set of buffs, and he tanked the whole fight. All I had to do was heal the harmtouch on myself, heal dogdog for the damage taken in the slowing process, and nuke with Ice Strike. One less undead iksar in the world. He will drop Wet Skull Fragments.

You say, 'Hail, Oracle Qulin'

Oracle Qulin nods at you quietly. Good work young seer. Give me the skull of the possessed and I will ensure it is taken care of.

Hand over the Fragments.

Oracle Qulin says 'It seems this particular ancient does not wish to be put to rest. Return this note to Hierophant Granix and tell him what happened. He will surely wish this skull to be disposed of properly, but I do not have the power to do it myself.'

He gives you a Note to Granix. If you do not yet have the four Glowing Skulls out of Howling Stones, now is the time to get them. Take them and your Iron Cudgel of the Hierophant to Granix in Cabilis. Make sure you have an open inventory slot and hand over the note.

Hierophant Granix says, 'It is as I feared, the mark of the warlock has surely driven these ancient spirits mad. We can not allow these spirits to roam free in our world Verdandi. Take this case and place the glowing skulls of other ancients inside of it. Return it to me with your Cudgel of the Heirophant so that we may remove these cursed spirits from our world forcefully.'

He gives you a Ornate Skull Case. Put the four Glowing Skulls in it and Combine the to make A Filled Ornate Skull Case. Give that to Granix along with your sixth cudgel.

Hierophant Granix says, 'You have done well Verdandi. Perhaps you can help clear these troubling dreams from my tired aging mind. Commune with the spirits of our Ancestors and learn from them. Never forget that the ultimate power comes from knowledge. The ancients are privy to much knowledge that mortals will never see. Should you be granted enlightenment from our ancestors, share your knowledge with me so that we may use this knowledge for the benefit of our brethren. I will continue to study the [dreams] that [cloud] my mind.'

SkyIron Cudgel of the Ancients - Eighth (and Final) Cudgel

You say, 'What dreams cloud your mind?'

Hierophant Granix says, 'I see much darkness...darkness and death. A void of life...the cold grip of death. An Ancient pact...with forces too terrible to describe...A great Leader...a fall, and a second coming. I see...a symbol of...an ancient city...Kaesora. I would begin there young Mystic. The spirits of that fallen city may hold a key to our future.'

Head to the ruins around the entrance to Kaesora and you ll find Oracle Vauris inside the outer wall, in the most northeast ruined building.

You say, Hail, Oracle Vauris

Oracle Vauris motions for silence. He points at the shifting sands below him without a word.

That is your cue to descend into Kaesora. This should be soloable from your mid 50s on up, but friends might be a good idea if you re a worrying type or not comfortable with sneaking around. If you could handle Howling Stones you can handle any of these solo, but the risk is of something seeing invis and sending a horde after you. Your target is Xalgoz, in the church area deep in the bottom of Kaesora. Invis to undead potions (or a friend to cast it on you) would be invaluable. Start with regular invis, but be aware that there may be undead roamers. Some of the spiders also see invis. Xalgoz dropped one of the parts you needed for your Howling Stones key, so this should be familiar.

Starting at the entrance to the zone, move straight forward through the first intersection. You will promptly fall through a pit. Turn to your right and head through the spiders and down the hallway. Proceed with caution: at some point you will start encountering all undead and want to switch to invis to undead. At the first intersection after the long, winding hallway, go straight. At the next intersection go left and then right. At the bottom of that path you ll be in a bigger chamber. Hug the left wall until you see a path leading to the left. Follow it as it winds around. At the bottom there will be another big chamber. The building ahead and to the right houses Xalgoz. Even if it s green most everything here will still probably agro, so you re best clearing the way to the church itself. There s a decent chance that someone will already be there camping him, as he s useful for several quests. If so, they ll probably let you have the necklace as it s only used for this quest. Xalgoz himself is somewhere in his 40s (reports vary) but is not remarkably difficult. Feel free to yank on his tongue, as he waves it in your face.

Return to Oracle Vauris and hand over the necklace.

Oracle Vauris takes the necklace from you without a word. He looks into your eyes for a moment. He seems to be searching for something. Apparently he finds whatever he was looking for as he pulls an empty bag from his belt. He takes the necklace and snaps the cord with his teeth allowing the skulls to fall into the bag. He looks you square in the eyes again and motions for you to put out your hand. You do so and almost immediately regret it. Vauris takes the knife from his belt and slices open your forearm allowing your blood to fall into the bag. He uses the cord to tie the bag and hands it back to you. 'You now share the mark of Rile, Verdandi. Your fates are intertwined.'

You say, 'Who is Rile?'

Oracle Vauris says 'Have you learned nothing in all your years of service to the hall of Terror? The skulls on that necklace were the bones of the traitorous Iksar who defiled Rile's Relics. Their final moments were spent in Charasis, destroyed by their own dark magics. Rile was the son of the most powerful and terrible [emperor] the Iksar have ever known. Not since the days of Ssrae... 'His voice trails off and his eyes glaze over a bit. You sense that Vauris has been touched by some unmentionable terror.'

You say, 'What emperor?'

Oracle Vauris seems to snap back into reality and again looks into your eyes. Your lack of knowledge of our history is pathetic Seer. Were you a true follower of the order you would know of that which I speak. Find for yourself the knowledge to understand. Only then will I be able to help you in your quest for the knowledge of the ancients.

You say, 'Is it Venril Sathir?'

Oracle Vauris smiles coldly. So you have learned a thing or two about your ancestors, that is good. But what do you know of the present young mystic? A true Oracle's power is in his ability to entwine past present and future into a single entity. You have already encountered the emperor's servants, although you may not have know it. Show me that you have the clarity of mind to discern this riddle and we shall embark on a journey of enlightenment you and I.

You say, 'What about Xalgoz?'

Oracle Vauris says 'At last you see Verdandi. The one you speak of is indeed a servant of Rile's father. His presence on this world has disrupted the spirits of the ancients. This disruption must be put to an end. Slaying him will do little good unfortunately. We will have to make use of other powers to truly banish him from this world. If we are to do this we shall need a true relic of Rile, and the soul of his father. Only with these items can we hope to free Rile's soul from the void between death and life. But first there are others that serve the risen emperor that must be destroyed.'

You say, What others?

Oracle Vauris says, The servants of the emperor wear many faces. One in particular is know to wear several himself. Of Serpents and Iksar is his current incarnation, a twisted vision of a dark union. Bring me his essence, for I will need a vessel to siphon the emperor's soul into. Bring me these 3 items along with the pouch of bone dust and we shall see what fate the ancients have chosen for us.

He hands you a Pouch of Bone Dust. The other three items to which he vaguely refers are:

Return in triumph to Oracle Vauris and hand over the Pouch of Bone Dust, Changeling Essence, Glowing Kunzar Amulet, and Blackened Iksar Bones.

Oracle Vauris says 'You have done well Verdandi. Now it is time for the true test of your clairvoyance. Only a true Scaled mystic will be able to put these spirits to rest. Be warned, these souls will not go quietly into the next world. They have strong ties to this land, and it is these ties we must break. Take them to the City of the Kunzar, the birthplace of the emperor. Only there will you be able to tear asunder the dark rituals that have twisted the souls of our ancient heroes. I will await you in that place Verdandi.'

He gives you the Iksar Relics. All that's left is your final fight in Howling Stones!

Gather up some help for this step. Even at 65 you will want at least a few 60+ friends. I recommend a full group with at least one mezzer. This should be doable in the low 50s with several groups and a good balance of classes. The exit is inconvenient from where the cudgel fight takes place, so it will help a great deal if everyone can gate or be ported out.

Your destination lies in the south wing. This means that you either must fight your way through the north and west wings around to the south wing or just bring a lockpicker (201+ skill) to open the door. There are a few different routes you could take. One way goes as follows: once in the south wing proceed east past the drop off and turn south with the hallway. When the hallway turns west, turn with it. As you proceed you will encounter a large room to your left, the south. Enter through the first doorway into it. Follow the left (east) wall and enter the door in the southeast corner. Move forward to where the hallway bends south. On the left you will see a door. Opposite that door there is a hidden tunnel. That tunnel is our goal. Move your party into the tunnel but make absolutely sure that they stay towards the entrance to the tunnel and do not move more than halfway in. If anyone without good Iksar faction comes too far into the tunnel they will agro the Iksar Apparition that you are there to meet.

As I learned from personal experience, if it agros someone you can have it mezzed and do the turn in wherever it is. The Apparition despawns and Vauris Sathir spawns in the little niche at the end of the tunnel where the Apparition normally waits, safely out of agro range. So if necessary, take the time to get everyone back in the tunnel where they belong before doing the turn-in with a mezzed Apparition.

When you hand the Iksar Relics to the Iksar Apparition, there is a little drama of several minutes that will unfold on the stage. You will probably be too far away to hear it. I sent in a rogue with the super sneaky AA to listen, but do not be alarmed if you miss it.

As soon as you hand in the Relics:

Your feel your mind fog.

Vauris Sathir spawns in the niche and walks towards the stage. An Arisen Disciple, An Arisen Acolyte, An Arisen Necromancer, and An Arisen Priest will spawn in front of the stage. You may get immediate agro from some of them. Bring them back into the hallway to kill them. Leave any that didn't agro until later, or else you risk agroing the npcs on stage who are untargetable and therefore will kill you all while you can't attack them back.

Vauris Sathir throws the relics, shattering them against the cold stone floor. The charge of mana begins to pervade the air. You can hear the cackle of several Iksar echoing through the tunnels of Charasis.

Vauris Sathir 's insane cackling turns to unholy wailing as his remains are ripped apart and joined with the swirling mass of bone and spirit that swirls over the platform.

A Swirling Bone Mass vibrates chaotically. Two shapes begin to separate themselves from the maelstrom of energy until two whole skeletons are clearly visible.

At this point Venril Sathir and Rile Sathir spawn and begin to fight one another. Neither is targetable, although they will agro if anyone gets too close. Stay back and wait.

Rile Sathir cries out in agony

Venril Sathir staggers as the spirits of the Ancients consume them.

Venril Sathir laughs as he turns Riles attack aside

Rile Sathir falls to the ground, stunned momentarily

Venril Sathir staggers as the spirits of the Ancients consume them.

Venril Sathir laughs as he turns Riles attack aside

Rile Sathir cries out in agony

Venril Sathir laughs as he turns Riles attack aside

Rile Sathir falls to the ground, stunned momentarily

Venril Sathir 's maniacal cackle fills the halls. 'And so it ends child! Your torment will continue for all eternity!

Rile Sathir 's form is torn apart by the dark magics of Venril Sathir

Venril Sathir laughs at your pathetic form. 'The Gods can not hold me, how can you hope to!

Rile Sathir vanishes and Venril Sathir soon becomes targetable. Pull him and kill him. You will get any remaining Arisen at the same time. They are readily mezzable. Venril is tougher than other Howling Stones inhabitants but not nearly as difficult as his full self in Karnor's Castle. One group of 60s should have no problem.

Venril Sathir 's corpse says 'Deaa...th.....is....a do...or....'

Loot The Skull of Rile from his corpse. On the stage there should now be the spirit of Rile. Go to him and give him the Skull of Rile.

The spirit of Rile says 'Use your cudgel to unite my soul with my body Verdandi.'

Give him your Skyiron Cudgel of the Arisen.

The spirit of Rile begins to shudder and shake, the bones fly from your hands to meet their rightful soul. The spirit and bones being to glow and meld into one another, forming a swirling mass of ethereal energy. Verdandi begins to mouth incantations in an unfamiliar tongue. Their voice rises ever higher as mystic energy surges through the room. Then, in a suddenly flash, the spirit and corpse disappear without a trace, leaving only Verdandi holding a Faintly glowing Cudgel in his hand.

You should now have the Skyiron Cudgel of the Ancients in your possession, your reward from Rile. Congratulations, shaman!! You have done well.

Note: this is a revised edition of the same quest writeup that was originally posted on the Shaman's Crucible.
I, Verdandi, wrote that guide in its entirety and have adapted it here.