Aerlinthe

Difficulty: Scroll - 45+ to survive, 100+ to solo; High level Lady - 80+ for rewards, too hard to solo
Level Restriction: 45+, 150+
Timer:  7 Days for Loot, 21 Days for XP rewards
Can be Solo'd?  Depends on version; Requires Lockpick
Rewards:  Multiple XP items, Aerlinthe Recall Scroll, Aerfalle's Pallium, and Aerfalle's Staff; Aerfalle's War Staff and Aerfalle's Supreme Pallium; or Mana-Infused Acid War Staff of Aerfalle and Aerfalle's Mana-Infused Pallium

Aerlinthe is a very long and involved quest, but it is definitely one of the best around!  It's also one everyone should do at least once per character.  Fortunately, a competent leader can cut down the running time for the majority of the group if he plans a little preparation.  I am going to go through the quest in a chronological manner, not necessarily what each member of the quest team will experience.

*NOTE!*  As of the June 2009 patch, there are now three versions of this quest - a 45+ version, an 80+ version (see notes), and a 150+ version.  Each has different rewards that scale upwards in usefulness.  Check for details and differences between the three quests below.  Also, if you choose to do the 150+ version of the quest, be aware that it is limited in terms of time and group size.  After you turn in the mana shard (see below...), your fellow will be locked and only those in your fellow will be able to advance into Aerfalle's Sanctum.  Additionally, you have one hour to dispatch Aerfalle once you've handed in the stone.

Preparation:  Gather a small team (2 people or use two of your own characters) to do the first 4 steps.  Have the rest of the team gather on Aerlinthe when the team leader says to do so.  For those people who haven't earned the Recall Scroll yet, there are two Emissaries who summon portals to Aerlinthe.  The easiest to reach is at 87.6S, 65.6W, which is just outside Candeth Keep and can be reached via Sylsfear Dungeon or Carved Caves.  Slysfear requires lockpick, but Carved Caves does not.  Both dungeons are close to Al Jalima.  The other Emissary is inside Chalicmere Castle in the northeast Dires at 17.0S, 57.5W.  Reach this Emissary by visiting the Drunken Madman outside of Baishi and giving him some Sake.  You will have to jump into the castle or pick the lock on the gate, avoiding the monsters inside.  Both Emissaries require a bribe before they let you pass.  The one by Candeth Keep asks for a D note and the one in Chalicmere Castle requires a C.  Enter the summoned portal and gather to the South in the water.

Step 1 - Pyreal Bellows.  Head to Mt. Esper's Crater, preferably via summoned portal.  From the small village, run across the lake to Crater Caves, located at 64.8N, 13.4E.  If you have high enough to lead this quest, you probably should just run through here.  Do make sure to buff against Fire though, as there are a good number of Magma Golems at the end.  The dungeon is pretty linear, but follow the map, pass the Nubilous Golems, and jump down into the deeper level. After the jump down, take your second right, then an immediate left, down into a diagonal room.  Head right and down more steps.  From here, you'll enter a big room with a lava pit in the middle.  Use the [ and ] keys to find the Pyreal Bellows on the ground.  Use Aerlinthe Recall once you have the Bellows.  Buff up for the regular Aerlinthe monsters - that means pretty much every protect and bane.

Step 2 - Tenkarrdun Foundry.  For the most part, you can run through this dungeon if you want.  There are a couple spots where you will need to kill the enemies though.  From the Aerlinthe drop, run to the Inner Harbor and around to the NW corner.  From that corner, run up the northwest slope to 88.8N, 42.8E.  The portal is inside a small bunker with a couple of Diamond Golems guarding it.  Run past them into the portal.  From the drop point, head southwest, rounding a corner to a passageway with a lava floor heading north.  Turn west and open the north door in the next room.  Run down a ramp heading East, then turn back north.  Pass a portal on your left, and enter a room with a bridge crossing a lava span.  Jump over the pit as to avoid triggering traps on the bridge.  Head down a twisty staircase.  Remember this spot - you will be back here another time.  If you have another person in your group, send the person with Lockpick down the right hall.  Have the person without lockpick (or if you are soloing the dungeon, just you!) take the left stairwell and follow it into a large smoky room.  In the back, there are two levers.  Hit them both and get ready to either run really fast or have your helper bug a door.  Head back the way you came to the pair of staircases and take the east one.  Pass the first lever door into a large room.  This room has the Sluice Gate Bar in it - have the person who doesn't have the Bellows pick this item up.  Head to the west, pick a lock, and jump across another lava pit.  The second lever door is on the far side here, so if you have a team, have the lockpicker bug this door.  Wait there for your other friend to catch up.  Pass the lever door heading south to a room with down ramps to the north and south.  Take the North ramp and carefully head east - there are a lot of wisps ahead and you might take a lot of war spells if you aren't careful.  Keep heading east and you will enter a large-ish room with a large pit in one corner.  The person with the Bellows should head back out of this room to the previous hallway and log off here.  The person who picked up the Sluice Gate Bar should jump down the pit - there's a portal at the bottom.

Step 3 - Aerlinthe Reservoir - Upper and Lower.  Run to 85.3N 43.5, close to the SE edge of the Inner Harbor.  This dungeon is inside another bunker, but this one is more heavily guarded.  You might have to kill everything to get inside it.  Also, this place has a good number of Olthoi in it, so if you don't have melee defense, make sure you get those buffs.  You will also need Lockpick!  This place is a pretty nasty maze too, so don't be afraid of the map.

Hit the portal and take your first left down a long ramp.  Turn right and jump down a level, then take your next left up a ramp.  Turn left then right down a ramp and into a big room with lots of Olthoi.  Head NE out of the big room, turning right down another ramp.  *If you are doing the 45+ version of the quest, make sure you get the Sacrificial Dagger!*  Ignore the turn on your right and take your next left to a big metal door.  Pick the lock and pick up the Dagger from the floor.  Head back south and take that turn that you ignored.  That turn leads right into a very large room - head south and take the south exit from the room.  That path turns west and leads into another big-ish room.  Find the hole in the floor and run down the ramp into another similar room, also with a hole in the floor.  Again, go down it, pick the lock on the door, and jump into the portal to the Lower Reservoir.

The Lower Reservoir has mostly Shadows, Fire Elementals, and Golems in it.  Hop down two levels to a four-way split.  Take the North or West exit and make your way Northwest to a path out.  Turn right and you will come to a cliff.  Carefully aim yourself at the Southwest corner and jump.  You will land on a grate, surrounded by golems and elementals.  Head east and you will come to a room with two ramps.  Take the one heading down and you will see the Repair Golem.  Hand him the Sluice Gate Bar to start the quest.  As soon as you do, tell your friend who logged in the Foundry to log back in and tell your group to get buffed up.  You should either recall out back to your group or jump to the exit portal back in the room with the two ramps.  If the Repair Golem is missing, that means another group is actively running the quest or has just finished.  Log yourself off and check periodically.

Step 4 - Turn in the Bellows.  Have your friend log in and run to the newly-spawned Smithing Golem in the Foundry.  Hand that golem the Bellows.  That will cause the room to fill up with Lava, so either recall or jump down the pit in the corner.  The Bellows also causes the Behemoth of Tenkarrdun (AKA Mr. Big Pants) to spawn, as well as his Hellfire friend.

Step 5 - The Tenkarrdun Caldera.  Your group should now head for the center of the Tenkarrdun caldera in the north-central part of the island around 90N, 46E.  The easiest way to get there is by running around the harbor and going up the slope diagonally.  Gather your troops at a safe spot on the southern side of the caldera, preferably within visual range of Mr. Big Pants.  Once everyone arrives, nuke the Golem.  He's pretty resistant, but a 70+ mage shouldn't have trouble landing on him.  Mr. Big Pants drops a Black Boulder which can be fashioned into the Blackfire Atlan Stone by a Stone Collector.  There's only one boulder, sadly.  Move farther into the Caldera and you will find a spawn of Hellfires, and one named the Tenkarrdun Hellfire.  Kill that one and everyone should loot a Fire Infusion.  These infusions can either be used to upgrade the Sword of the Lost Light or they can be turned in to Lily of Glendon Wood for experience.  After you are done in the Caldera, head southwest toward the Harbor and follow it around until you reach the Undead Town.

Step 6 - The Undead Town (86.4N, 45.6E).  The most recent changes to Aerlinthe made this part especially easy, fortunately.  Gather your group just west of the big pillars by the town.  Once you are all there, have everyone run up the hill toward an abandoned structure.  There, you will find the Relic Watchman.  Dispatch him and he will summon a portal to Aerfalle's Keep.  He also drops a pretty useless ring, but your group should focus on getting in the portal.  It's essential that everyone be at the top of the hill in Undead Town when you kill the Watchman so that everyone can make the portal.  If you miss it, you are out of luck.

Step 7 - Aerfalle's Keep.  Rebuff yourselves here, again a full buff.  When you are set, head North and kill the monsters there.  There is a dispel trap in the hallway past the locked door, so be sure to let everyone know how to avoid it.  Step to the end of the first block in the room and then do about a 10-20% power jump toward the far door, depending on your skill.  If you jump too hard, you will hit your head and bounce into the trap.  Someone will likely hit the trap anyway, so do not open the far door until you have rebuffed.  Pick the lock and head into a big hall.  Kill the monsters and then have your group head north again, down a ramp.  The leader should go on alone, turning left and up into a small room.  There are two levers here - hit them both. 

*Here's where things diverge!*

• If you are doing the 45+ version, you must give your Sacrificial Dagger to the Ghost of Dylaeral.  Go back into the big hall and head east and up, where the Ghost is found.
• If you are doing the 80+ version, you can forget about the dagger part.
• If you are doing the 150+ version, you don't need the dagger, but you do need to come back to the ghost room later.

Head down north with your group, where they should have passed the first lever door.  Kill the monsters in the next room and then have the group wait again at the east door, which is another lever door.  Have your leader go off alone again, this time to the northwest of the lever door.  Head down another ramp and open the first door on the right, where you will find a lever.  Pull it and your group can move on. 

*Again, a divergence!*

• If you are doing the 45+ or 80+ version of the quest, go right through that newly opened lever door.
• If you are doing the 150+ version, have your group stay at the door and make sure someone bugs it for you.  You should go down the ramp alone and look for the first path off to the right, leading into a throne room protected by a few Infernos.  There's a dispel trap in the entryway, so jump over it.  In the back right-hand corner of the room as you enter, you should see a pedestal with a mana shard resting on it.  Grab it, leave the room (avoiding that dispel trap!), and go back to your team.  Pass them and go back up the ramp back toward the drop.  You will probably have to hit the lever on the wall to open the door.  Go up the ramp, take a right, and go back to the levers.  Hit them both, go across the way, and visit the Ghosts.  Give Galaeral the mana shard - make sure everyone is in your fellowship, because doing so will lock the fellow.  Now return to your group and proceed normally... for now.

Head down the ramp and take the second left turn into a large library.  Kill everything and keep heading north to another lever door.  Once more, have your leader go off alone to the south, past the library where you just were.  Be careful in the next room because there are dispel traps by the entrances.  Jump across, pull the lever in the southeast corner.  Have your group move past the lever door and then stop so your leader can catch up and perhaps rebuff.  Fight your way to the southeast and kill all the wisps and rats.  The east exit leads to Aerfalle's room!  There's a mana blight trap ahead, so jump down the hall. 

*Final Divergence!*

• With the July 2009 patch, Aerfalle herself doesn't deal with lowbies - she sends her apprentice to do her dirty work for her.  Too bad.  You are reasonably safe rushing in, although I would have the leader pull her out.  The 45+ version has a nasty habit of Expelling the first person to attack her.  Kill her and loot keys from her corpse - there should be enough for one fellowship.
• If you are fighting the 80+ version of Aerfalle's Apprentice, you really have to lure her out into the previous hallway.  You should be sure *NOT* to cast any negative life or creature spells on her, or she will dispel them and rebuff.  Your best bet is to use rending weapons on her once you have isolated her from her entourage.  She has a good deal of health and will take you a while to kill. 
  • After you kill the 45+ or 80+ version, have everyone loot a key from her corpse.  Head back into the wisp room and take the south exit.  Follow the path and stop right before the second left.  This is the same room with the fourth lever and has a dispel trap at the entrance.  Have everyone jump in and line up to use your keys.  Lower level Aerfalle's keys open the right chest and higher level Aerfalle's keys open the left chest.  Get your rewards and head out. 
• For the 150+ version, once you clear the wisp hall, make a break for Aerfalle's room, ignoring the mana blight trap and the monsters.  At the far end, you'll see a portal.  You'll need to use it (i,e., double click!).  This portal takes you into Aerfalle's Sanctum.

Step 7a - Aerfalle's Sanctum.  At this point, you probably have 45-50 minutes to finish the quest.  It would be a really good idea to rebuff if you have less than that amount of time on your buffs.  Once everyone is ready, go over the battle plans for this dungeon.  There are three main types of monsters in here - Graveyard-style Skeletons, VoD-style Undead, and Ghosts.  Skeletons are basically impervious to magic, so non-mages will have to dispatch them while mages imperil them.  The Undead actually come in a couple flavors - old VoD undead who die very quickly to all characters and Revenant Lords that have really high melee D.  Melees and archers shouldn't worry too much about the Revenants - mages can put them down pretty quickly.  The ghosts aren't too much of a problem for anyone, so they can go last.  When you are ready, head down into the Sanctum.  Take a right at the first intersection and go into a large chamber with a grated floor.  Follow the path, again taking a right, and you'll come to a nasty flood room.  You need to dispatch the skeletons quickly in here or you'll get overwhelmed by a respawn.  (Alternatively, you could try running through it, but that would get awfully dangerous).  Once everything is dead, run straight ahead, through the next two intersections, ignoring the Revenants as best you can.  If your group gets stuck, get everyone to turn off into the first or second halls, just enough so that any respawn from the flood room won't get to you, and clear the mess.  Once you are past the Revenants, head down the ramps and turn right again.  This path is actually a loop and on the far side is the jump down into Aerfalle's room.  Clear the monsters as you go, looking for the jump on your left.  Once you find it, kill whatever followed you and go over the battle plan.  Like the 80+ version, Aerfalle dispels and counterbuffs if you debuff her, so don't do that!  Aerfalle does have a couple friends protecting her - two Skeletons and two Revenants.  Debuff them before you jump down.  Mages should go after the Revs and non-mages should go after the Skeletons.  After they are dead, attack Aerfalle.  She casts very strong spells and seems to pick on the lowest level of your fellowship first (and very persistently).  If she's after you, break off, keep your distance, and stay alive.  She also has an annoying habit of summoning a Skeleton to help her - be ready to have mages debuff and non-mages destroy it.  Also be wary of respawning Revs and Skeles.  When you defeat her, have everyone loot a key and a charm from her.  Be wary of the Ley Line behind her throne - it can kill you very quickly if you get too close to it!  However, it is one of the 20 ley lines the Arcanum is interested in surveying, so if you happen to be doing that quest, use your mana stone from a safe distance.  Once everyone has looted, head to the far end of her room, through a couple doors, to her treasury.  There are two final Revenants here, which you could kill through the doors if you wanted.  Before you loot Aerfalle's chest, have everyone line up and give their charms to the ghost NPC in the room.  Be quick about this, as the ghost leaves after about 5 minutes.  The ghost will reward you with 15,000 Luminance.  When you reach her treasure chest, line up and have everyone loot it.  It's basically a Spell Component Mana Forge Chest, so you'll get some inks, quills, or glyphs.  You'll also find the staff, robe, scroll, and XP token.  Once everyone has their rewards, head to Zaikhal.

Step 8 - Rewards.  Regardless of which quest you completed, you get the same basic rewards - a robe, a wand, a sword, an XP token, and a scroll (except the 80+ version).  You can turn in your XP token and untranslated scroll to the translator in Zaikhal and your Ashbane to Leikotha outside of Samsur (take the Yinar settlement).  Be aware that you must be 80+ to turn in the upgraded Ashbane, so ivorying it and giving it to a lowbie won't be useful.

Optional Step 8 - Infusions.  Your group should already have one Infusion from the Tenkarrdun Hellfire, but there are two others you can pick up for extra experience.  The second one lives in the Crater of Mt. Esper and the third lives in Mt. Lethe.  Get yourself a portal to Crater and fight your way into the center of the lake - there's an island there and the Mt. Esper Firestorm lives there.  There are lots of monsters, so it might be a good idea to kill a few of the Firestorm's cronies.  Loot the Infusion from his corpse and then it's time to head to Mt. Lethe in the West Dires at approximately 34S 85W.  The top of Mt Lethe has another small crater and you will find the Lethe Hellfire somewhere in the center.  This crater is a whole lot more dangerous than Mt Esper, so tread carefully.  Kill the Hellfire and then loot him.  The final step is to take your three infusions to Lily of Glendon Wood at 32N 27.2E for your reward - 4, 3, and 4 Million for each infusion.