The Quest: Rhok'delar, Lok'delar and Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina

Molten Core

Once upon a time a group of heroes and adventurers ventured into Molten Core. They had traveled there to make an end to Ragnaros the Firelord. The group fought their way through all of the bosses. They reached Majordomo Executus, and swiftly finished his guards off, making him submit and retreat to the lair of his master. He left behind the Cache of the Firelord, which contained invaluable treasures, as well as an Ancient Petrified Leaf. The group gave the leaf to the hunter of the group, as a reward for her brave and heroic efforts. (Also, she was the only hunter present.) Soon after they defeated Ragnaros as well, and Azeroth was saved once again. They all portaled to Stormwind, and every citizen participated in celebrating their victories. Allegedly enough Darkbrew Lager to fill up Thondoril River was consumed in Stormwind that night.


The next day, the brave hunter decided to stay in and drink lots of water, while studying the leaf in more detail.

Ancient Petrified Leaf Binds when picked up Unique This Item Begins a Quest Classes: Hunter Requires Level 60 Item Level 71 "A very large petrified leaf."

"Aha!" the hunter thought to herself, right clicking the leaf to start the quest.

Quest: The Ancient Leaf "Find the owner of the Ancient Petrified Leaf. Good luck, hunter; It's a big world." The epidermis of the leaf glows a bright green. The surface is extremely rugose, exposing several veins and wrinkles. If you had to take a guess, you would say this leaf came from something ancient and powerful. Maybe you should find the original owner of this leaf?

"That wasn't much of a clue..." the hunter said to herself, and opened up Wowhead on her laptop.

Felwood

Wowhead said to go to Irontree Grove in the middle of the Felwood. There she should seek out three Ancients on a small hill; Vartrus, Stoma and Hastat. "That will have to wait for tomorrow" she decided, and poured herself more water.

The next day she took her pet and her elekk with her and flew from Stormwind to Menethil Harbor, took the boat to Auberdine, flew to Emerald Sanctuary and rode north towards Irontree Grove. Finally there, she quickly saw the hill top, and headed towards it. As she reached the top, three Ancients appeared in front of her. She greeted them respectfully, and asked if they could tell her about the leaf.

From Wowhead: Vartrus, Stoma and Hastat at Irontree Grove in Felwood

*Vartrus groans* "Of course I recognize my own leaves. Look at that! It's in perfect condition. How good of you to return it, hunter. Perhaps you could be of service to us and we to you."

She waited while the three ancients discussed her arrival. Now and then, one of them would turn and give her an inquiring stare, as if they were trying to evaluate her capabilities. She flicked nervously with a broken arrowhead she had in her pocket. Finally they faced her again, and Vartrus spoke:

Quest: An Introduction "Your diligence and integrity has been noted, hunter. We are Ancients: Protectors of this once great forest. Our physical forms were destroyed 10,000 years ago when Archimonde and the Burning Legion marched upon Hyjal. Our spirits, however, remain intact. There are tasks that we can offer. Tasks that if completed will open up the secrets of the Ancients to you. Know this, should you complete these tasks, merely return to this rock and we shall answer the calling."

One by one they spoke to her, promising powerful gifts in exchange for heroic deeds. Vartrus the Ancient gave her a piece of Petrified Bark, and asked her to slay four demons and bring him their heads:

Quest: Stave of the Ancients You must find and destroy these four demonic corrupters: Simone the Seductress. Klinfran the Crazed. Solenor the Slayer. Artorius the Doombringer. Destroy these creatures and return to Vartrus the Ancient in Felwood with their heads. Refer to the Petrified Bark in your inventory for clues as to their whereabouts. You MUST complete this task by yourself. Required: Simone's Head, Klinfran's Head, Solenor's Head and Artorius' Head. "Agents of the Burning Legion are still active in our world, hunter. These agents corrupt all that they touch. Nature wilts and weeps in their presence. You must track down these demonic corrupters and destroy them, hunter. Be warned, you must engage them by yourself or they will flee. As long as you are alone, they will try and destroy you. You must strike at them, turning their arrogance into misery. I grant you a piece of my bark, the inscriptions shall lead you to your targets. Do not be fooled by their disguises! Retrieve their heads." Rewards: Ancient Rune Etched Stave

Stoma the Ancient wanted her to kill a black dragon and bring him a sinew from it:

Quest: A Proper String Stoma the Ancient has asked that you bring him a Mature Black Dragon Sinew. Should you find this sinew, return it to Stoma in Felwood. "Vartrus may offer you the stave to create a bow of Ancients but only I can enchant the string required to complete the bow. It is a simple task, puny one. Slay a mature black dragon and remove the sinew from its bones. Return that sinew to me and I shall enchant the material into an almost indestructible bow string." Rewards: Enchanted Black Dragon Sinew

And finally, Hastat the Ancient wanted her to hunt down and kill a blue dragon and bring him a sinew from it:

Quest: Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina Hastat the Ancient has asked that you bring him a Mature Blue Dragon Sinew. Should you find this sinew, return it to Hastat in Felwood. "Greetings, hunter. I am Hastat, Ancient of Lore. I hold knowledge lost eons ago. With the proper binding, one of my leaves can serve as a quiver the likes of which has not been seen in 10,000 years. A quiver that when accompanied by a bow of Ancients, could grant untold powers. Return here with sinew from an adult blue dragon and this quiver shall be yours." Reward: Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina

Overwhelmed by the meeting with the three Ancients, the hunter rode back to Emerald Sanctuary and got a room for the night. She wasn't able to catch sleep though; thinking, tossing and turning as she was. She finally caved, and stretched for her backpack, where she had placed the Petrified Bark she had received from Vartrus.

Petrified Bark Binds when picked up Unique Classes: Hunter Requires Level 60 Item Level 71 Right Click to Read

She right clicked the piece of bark, and it unfolded. And the lights in the small cabin in Felwood were never put out that night, as the hunter eagerly read the bark and planned her next move.

Azshara

The next morning the hunter arranged for equipment so that she could stay out in the wilds for an unknown amount of time. She then acquired a hippogryph from the flight master, and traveled to the beautiful lands of Azshara. The hippogryph took her to Talrendis Point, west in Azshara.

She had visited Wowhead again the night before (bless the Naaru for Azeroth's excellent wireless connection!), and had learned that she needed to seek out the blue dragon Azuregos to get the blue dragon sinew for Hastat. She would also have to kill the black dragon Onyxia for the piece of black sinew that Stoma wanted, but that part she would worry about later.

She talked with the night elves at Talrendis Point, and got directions to where Azuregos last had been seen. Without much delay she mounted her elekk, whistled for her pet and rode south into the red forest. Eventually she arrived at the right area. She could definitely see tracks of a big dragon! But the dragon itself was not present. She enabled Track Dragonkin and set up a camp for herself, the pet and the elekk.

The first days she was extremely alert and on guard. Not a squirrel moved without her knowing it! But after a week her determination started to falter. What if Azuregos had only been here that one time? She started to find it more and more tempting to pack up and leave, when she suddenly felt the presence of a dragon... Swift but silently she tracked the dragon down. Blue! But it wasn't Azuregos, it was Spirit of Azuregos. This was still good news; it meant that she was in the right spot, and that he definitely would be back, sooner or later. With renewed hope she kept up the search, and two days later her patience finally paid off. It was late in the evening, and she was just about to take a couple of hours of sleep when she again felt the presence of a dragon. She easily tracked him, and although she thought herself unnoticed, the dragon suddenly shouted: "You seek to harm me hunter?" The hunter thought about this for a second, and then replied: "I am a treasure hunter in search of powerful artifacts. Give them to me and you will not be harmed." Azuregos roared and charged towards the hunter, but her skilled pet quickly intervened and distracted him. Azuregos put up a good fight, but after about 8 minutes* or so he had to cave, and the brave hunter could pick up the Mature Blue Dragon Sinew.

Happy about finishing her task, she prepared to sleep in the beautiful Azshara for the last time. The next day she would continue to Winterspring.

Azuregos at level 60 A world boss with 910k health. He was immune to arcane spells and was very frost-resistant. Cleave that chained. Frost Breath and Manastorm that did some AOE damage and drained mana. Chill that affected all close to him, reducing their movement and attack speed. Teleport that pulled everyone to him and that reset his aggro. Spell reflection. Mark of Frost: Any player that died on this fight got a 15 min long debuff that made them unable to participate in the fight again. Azuregos periodically sent out an AOE-pulse that freezed anyone with this mark into an ice cube. Azuregos usually took over half an hour to kill, which make mine 5-10 min solo seem like nothing. :)

Winterspring

The long ride back to Talrendis Point seemed so much shorter this time around. They all seemed pleased to both see her again alive, but also that the crazy blue dragon was dead. She read through the notes on the bark yet again.

The fourth note was about the demon called Artorius:

Petrified Bark 4/5: Artorius the Doombringer Artorius brings corruption and doom to all that he touches in Winterspring. Find him, kill him.

"This Artorius definitely sounds like the most dangerous one. Winterspring is close to here, I'll go there next."

And the final note was a warning:

Petrified Bark 5/5: Be warned, hunter, these demons must be fought on their own terms. If they feel that they do not outmatch you, they will flee. GO ALONE.

"I won't be able to bring you to these battles then?" she asked her loyal pet, and scratched him behind the ear. He gave her an "uh-oh, we're doomed"-stare back, which she chose to ignore.

The flight master sent her to Everlook in Winterspring on a rested Hippogryph. Safely there she stored her equipment at the inn, placed the pet with the stable master, enabled Track Demons and went looking for Artorius the Doombringer in the northern parts of Winterspring.

After a couple of hours of searching she caught the track of a demon in the snowy woods. When following it she stumbled upon a very amiable tauren on the path. He smiled at her. "Have you seen a demon around here mister tauren?" He shook his head, and smiled even more. She shrugged, and kept walking past him. She suddenly heard a growl from behind her and a big blue demon leaped towards her from where the tauren had been only seconds ago. "Don't let him get close" she reminded herself, and started running while she shot a Serpent Sting in his direction, followed by a Concussive Shot. She ran a bit more, gave him a couple of Arcane Shots, refreshed the Serpent Sting. Then he died*, and she could retrieve his head. "Eww... I’d better hurry and finish the rest of the tasks before this demon starts to reek even more."

From Wowhead: Artorius the Amiable / Artorius the Doombringer

Artorius at level 60 A level 60 elite doomguard with 25k health. As with all of the demons, he had to be killed by the hunter alone: no heals, pets, mid-fight buffs, etc. Each demon had a weakness to a hunter skill. Artorius' specific weakness was to the poison of a hunter's Serpent Sting. Stacked Rank 9 Serpent Sting did 500 - 600 damage every three seconds to this demon in the form of a debuff called "Stinging Trauma". The first Sting would behave as normal. Once he had the normal Serpent Sting debuff, a second Serpent Sting would be replaced by the Stinging Trauma debuff. The key to the fight was to stay out of range of his demonic magic, which was able to mutate players into a demon and deal large amounts of damage to the hunter.

Onyxia's Lair

Back at Everlook, the hunter sent a mail to her fellow guild mates; "Need help to kill Onyxia. Meet me at Mudsprocket in Dustwallow Marsh. I'm traveling all the way from Winterspring, so take your time. Best regards, The Hunter." She then got her pet and her elekk from the stable master, and was once again saddled on a hippogryph.

It was a long journey. The great hero dozed off several times. She regretted that she hadn't planned the route via Stormwind and Wetlands, so she could take the boat again. "No matter how seasick one gets, it's better than these cross country hippogryph-rides. What is a hippogryph anyway? Is it a bird? Is it a plane?" The hippogryph gave her a strict stare over it's shoulder, as if it knew what she was thinking. She straightened out her frown, and sent it her most innocent smile.

She was delighted to find her entire guild in Mudsprocket, all more than happy to fight some dragons. They spent the evening planning the raid, and she was thankful to have the support of the group again after the long solitude in Azshara.

The next day they ventured into Onyxia's Lair, slaughtering every dragon they met. Without too much trouble, they ended the tale of Onyxia. And the Mature Black Dragon Sinew was there! They kept a roaring party at Mudsprocket that evening, everyone exhilarated by the victorious battle. The next day they parted once again, as they were going back to important tasks in Dalaran, while the hunter still had three demons left on her list.

Onyxia at level 60 A 40man raid. You would start fighting her in her cave. In corners of the cave there would be eggs, if you ran into them (either on purpose or because you were feared), whelps would spawn from them. At a certain percentage she would fly up in the air, and you would have ranged continuing to DPS her, while tanks and melee needed to manage some hard hitting adds. Now and then she would do a deep breath where she flew across the room and bathed everything in front of her in fire. At a certain percentage she would land again. All DPS and healers had to avoid her firebreath and tailswipe. At the same time you needed to be positioned right so that when she feared you wouldn't run to the eggs. I've only done Onyxia at level 80, when it was relaunched as a 10/25man raid. It was great fun, SV-hunters really shined back then (too). :)

Un'goro Crater

"Finally a gryphon!" the hunter thought to herself as she traveled from Mudsprocket to Marshal's Stand in Un'goro Crater.

She patted the gryphon on the back, withdrew the bark from her backpack and read about the next demon, Simone:

Petrified Bark 1/5: Simone the Seductress You will find Simone befouling Un'Goro Crater. Do not be fooled by her disguise. Approach her with caution and challenge her to battle.

Once at Un'goro Crater, the hunter headed to the west. Track Demons was enabled, and she quickly found a demon track. Not long after she met a very inconspicuous troll hunter with a wolf as a pet. The troll smiled at her, so she found it safe to ask "have you seen a demon around here?". The troll merely shook her head and kept smiling. "Ok, I'll keep looking. Have a good day." The hunter walked a couple of meters, but froze suddenly as the sound of a whip behind her broke the silence. "Oh right... Very sneaky those demons!" Behind her Simone had transformed into her true self; a succubus. And her pet had transformed into a fel hunter. The hero of our story shot a couple of arrows into her, then picked up the head and placed it in her bag. "Just eww..."

Simone the Inconspicuous

Simone the Seductress

Simone at level 60 A level 60 elite succubus with 13k health and a fel hunter pet. As with all of the demons, she had to be killed by the hunter alone: no heals, pets, mid-fight buffs, etc. Each demon had a weakness to a hunter skill. Simone's specific weakness was that Viper Sting would silence her from casting Lightning Bolt, and Aspect of the Wild would greatly reduce the damage taken from her Lightning Bolt. She would apply Temptress' Kiss to the hunter, which reduced ranged attack power by 1400 for 45 second. She didn't hit very hard with her melee attacks, but her pet would. The level 60 strategy would be to either kill, cc or kite the pet. You needed to melee Simone, cause of the ranged attack power debuff.

Silithus

The next note on the bark was about the demon called Solenor:
 

Petrified Bark 3/5: Solenor the Slayer In the arid landscape of Silithus lurks the fiend, Solenor the Slayer. Undoubtedly disguised, definitely a danger. Approach him and force him to transform.

"Silithus. Great, bugs..." she thought to herself, and tried to shake off hundreds of imaginary insects. "If I hurry, I can be done with him tonight, and sleep in Dalaran tonight!" She rushed back to Marshal's Stand, swooped pet and elekk with her and jumped on the first gryphon available.
 

 
As they moved away from the lush forests of Un'goro Crater and into the icky desert of Silithus, she had a serious drop in motivation. "What am I doing? Three old trees send me all over Kalimdor, and I obey them without questions? I can handle weeks stuck in Azshara, the cold weather in Winterspring, devilsaurs in Un'goro and whatever dragon they throw at me. But bugs? Why did it have to be Silithus!?"

After landing at Cenarion Hold she traveled to the southwest of Silithus. She parked the elekk and the pet in a safe place nearby and enabled Track Demons. Again she picked up the track fast, and it wasn't long until she saw a nice little gnome discussing with a big brute of a tauren. "Oh no, I'm not falling for this again", she thought to herself and ran over to the tauren. She gripped a hold of him and shook him while yelling "let the little gnome be! Show yourself demon!" The tauren stared terrified back at her, then his eyes widened as he looked at something behind her. "Oh, right. I was wrong again? Really?" She sighed, turned around, sent a couple of arrows into the big red demon, picked up his head and put it in her bag. "Sorry about that mister tauren" she said to the shocked tauren, and clumsily patted his arm. He stared at her, then down on his arm, then back again. He opened his mouth to a big "O", then turned around and made a run for it. The hunter shrugged and went back to the camp. She gathered equipment, dead demons, pet and elekk in a big pile and hearthed home to Dalaran.

Nelson the Nice

Solenor the Slayer

Solenor at level 60 A level 60 elite dreadlord with 19k health. He summoned scarabs, did shadow damage and feared. As with all of the demons, he had to be killed by the hunter alone: no heals, pets, mid-fight buffs, etc. Each demon had a weakness to a hunter skill. Solenor's specific weakness was that he could be "chilled" with Frost Trap before the fight and that Wing Clip (rank 3) would immobilize him completely with "Crippling Clip" for 30 seconds.

Burning Steppes

It was good to be back! The hunter postponed her departure from Dalaran. She kept all the demon and dragon parts in a freezing trap in a dark corner in the Dalaran sewers, and thought to herself that there was no rush. But one night at the Legerdemain Lounge, a rumour reached her. The ancients were perhaps soon departing Felwood for unknown reasons. That if anyone had business with them, they should act quick... All that trouble and perhaps no reward at all?! She leaped from her chair, rushed to her room, packed up some stuff in her backpack, ported to Stormwind and acquired a gryphon to Morgan's Virgil. For the last time she pulled the bark out of the backpack to study the last note, about the demon Klinfran: 
 

Petrified Bark 2/5: Klinfran the Crazed Klinfran wanders the Burning Steppes. Approach him with caution and force him to show his true form.

The hunter jumped off the gryphon as soon as it landed, enabled Track Demons and rode off to the west as if demons themselves were chasing her. After a couple of hours she was in the right area. It was in the middle of the night, and the moon shined with mysterious light over the landscape. She noticed a track, and jumped off the elekk. She leaned down to study it better. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and turned, now facing a friendly human. "Hi there! That's a very late hour to be hunting on." he said, practically beaming to her. She smiled back, waiting for the man to transform into his demon form. Nothing happened. "Hmm. I wonder if this helps?" She leaned towards him and tickled him. He got furious! His face went red, steam came out of his ears and his eyes almost popped! He roared, transformed into the fel guard he was, and struck out towards her.

"Pew-pew, dead. Let go of your head." she rhymed seconds later as she put it in her bag.

Franklin the Friendly

Klinfran the Crazed

Klinfran at level 60 A level 60 elite felguard with 25k health. As with all of the demons, he had to be killed by the hunter alone: no heals, pets, mid-fight buffs, etc. Each demon had a weakness to a hunter skill. Klinfran's specific weakness was that the highest rank of Scorpid Sting (at level 60) could be used to remove his enrage and also reduced his melee damage to 1 damage per hit. It also stunned him for about half a second. The fight was mostly about kiting.

Back to Felwood

She whistled for her elekk, asked it to carry her over to Morgan's Virgil again, and took a small nap while hanging over it's back. The flight master sent her to Menethil Harbor in Wetlands, where she got on the boat to Auberdine. It seemed like a very long time since she had last done this journey! From Auberdine she flew to Emerald Sanctuary, and from there she traveled by elekk again.

As she reached the top of the hill at Irontree Grove, the three Ancients appeared in front of her again. They greeted her with recognition and much anticipation.

She approached Vartrus first, and placed the four demon heads in front of him.

Quest completed: Stave of the Ancients "You have served us well, hunter! Take this stave and combine it with the bow string that Stoma is able to create. Together, they form a most formidable weapon."

Vartrus gave her an Ancient Rune Etched Stave.

Ancient Rune Etched Stave Binds when picked up Unique Requires Level 60 Item Level 71 Use: Forms Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers, when combined with Enchanted Black Dragon Sinew. "A gift from the Ancients."

She turned to Stoma, and placed the Mature Black Dragon Sinew on the ground in front of him.

Quest completed: A Proper String "A most foul dragon this one was. The sinew reeks of evil. Give me a moment to cleanse the filth from this flesh and apply the proper enchantments."

Stoma gave her an Enchanted Black Dragon Sinew.

Enchanted Black Dragon Sinew Binds when picked up Unique Classes: Hunter Requires Level 60 Item Level 71 "An almost indestructible string. Perfect for a mighty bow stave."

Finally, she turned to Hastat and placed the Mature Blue Dragon Sinew in front of him.

Quest completed: Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina "Welcome back, young hunter. May my leaves provide your arrows protection from harm. May your arrows strike true. May the enemies of our world be smitten."

Hastat gave her an Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina.

Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina Binds when picked up Unique 24 Slot Bag Classes: Hunter Item Level 75

Lae with the quiver

The ancients watched as she eagerly combined the bow and the string, forming Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers.

Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers Binds when picked up Unique Ranged Bow 149 - 277 Damage Speed 2.90 (73.4 damage per second) Durability 95 / 95 Classes: Hunter Requires Level 60 Item Level 75 Equip: Increases your critical strike rating by 14 (1.00% @ L60). Equip: Increases ranged attack power by 17.

Lae with Rhok'delar in her hand

 
"I have one more gift for you, hunter."Hastat suddenly announced. She walked over to him, and he placed a staff in her hands; Lok'delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers.**

Lok'delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers Binds when picked up Unique Two-Hand Staff 187 - 282 Damage Speed 3.20 (73.4 damage per second) +15 Agility +26 Stamina +10 Nature Resistance Durability 120 / 120 Classes: Hunter Requires Level 60 Item Level 75 Equip: Increases your critical strike rating by 28 (2.00% @ L60). Equip: Increases attack power by 45 when fighting Demons.

From Wowhead: tauren hunter with Rhok'delar in her/his hand,
and Lok'delar and Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina on her/his back

The hunter was ecstatic about the nice gifts! Vartrus worried a bit, and leaned down and whispered "My dear friend, you realise this is level 60 stuff, right?" "Yes, of course!" "Good. But hang on to them anyway, perhaps someday you'll be able to change your weapons to look just like these."

---

The Quest
The Quest: Rhok'delar, Lok'delar and Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina
The Quest: Thori'dal
The Quest: Quel'delar

These quests were added in patch 1.4.0 (05 May 2005) and removed in patch 4.0.6 (08 Feb 2011).

* Done at level 80... Sorry, I know I could have written a much more action filled story with a level 60 hunter, but I don't even think I have one half-good action-scene in me, let alone six of them.

** Lok'delar wasn't part of the quest. You simply had to speak to Hastat with Rhok'delar in your inventory, and he would give it to you. No quest, only reward.