Prodigal Shadow Child

Difficulty:  Minimum to survive (see below for 'survivability')
Level Restriction:  140+
Timer:  13 Days 
Can be Solo'd?  No
Rewards:  XP, Luminance, Prodigal Shadow Slayer title, Aegis of the Golden Flame, Braced Mana Forge Key

Yet another one of Aerbax's creations, Kirenne Palacost is the Hopeslayer's long-lost niece who's been amped up with nasty Virindi augmentations.  That can't possibly be good for Dereth, so your job is to destroy her.

Step 1:  Preparations.  This quest isn't easy (and that's a gross understatement).  However, you as the quest leader can greatly simplify things for your team and cut down the time it takes to finish the quest by about an hour if you do some legwork before quest time.  Continue reading to learn how to do that.  Everyone else in your team also needs to be prepared for the quest in fairly specific ways.  Everyone needs to be flagged for the Caul.  Having Caul Recall can be an additional requirement if the leader chooses.  People without Caul Recall can technically participate, but if they die, they will need to run through the Bore back to the Caul drop in order to rejoin the fight.  That's a pretty major annoyance, so making Caul Recall a requirement for participation isn't a bad idea.  Additionally, everyone should carry enough DIs and vitae killers for at least 3 deaths.  These deaths are recoverable, but it's crucial that everyone be able to rejoin the boss fight as soon as possible and at full capacity.  Last but not least, all mages should have Shadowfire wands.  Melees and archers can go with other fire weapons, but mages have no excuse for not carrying these.  As the leader, you should make sure everyone knows not to touch anything.  There are two points in this quest where reckless touching will get the offending character killed (which is funny, but definitely makes the quest more difficult).

*NOTE!*  This quest only provides enough rewards for 20 people.  If you plan on taking a big group through, you may need to fight the boss more than once.  However, I would suggest that you limit the quest to 20 people so you don't have to do that.

Step 1a:  Lumps.  First and foremost, you as the leader need to track down enough Pulsating Bony Lumps so that everyone on your quest will have one.  Those can be found in the north wing of the Collegium Artifex on the Caul, which is located at 91.9S 93.7W just west of Isin Dule's spire.  The North Wing is populated with annoying shadows who have a habit of counterbuffing against debuffs.  The easiest way to deal with them is to run to the end of the dungeon and deal with the two shadows and their Virindi friend.  The lumps spawn on the ground about every 30 seconds.  Grab your 20 lumps and leave.

Step 1b:  Pandemic Key.  The second item you will need is a Pandemic Key, which opens a locked door in The Orphanage.  The Orphanage is a randomly appearing dungeon on the Caul that is full of annoying Caul monsters.  To get this key, you will have to get through four other doors.  Fortunately you can run this dungeon if you know where you are going and are quick about things.  Being a melee helps too, as you can kill through doors.  Once you find the portal, go in and be ready to move to the east as soon as you land.  The drop won't be hot immediately, but it will get nasty quickly if you fool around.  Head east, open the first door you come to, take a right or left, and go down the stairs.  At the bottom of the ramp is a series of three larger rooms to the east.  Find the center one and hit the lever in it.  Now you need to make your way back the way you came, just before the large drop room.  Instead of going in to the drop room, head south along the side passage.  This path will lead up and into an open room.  Run through to the south exit and go up again.  Now you will find yourself in the second story of that room.  There are rafters that you will need to jump across.  To the west you should see an open door (controlled by the lever you hit).  Get in that door, kill whatever you think is necessary, and grab the key on the floor.  You are currently SE of the drop room - you need to take your key and head to the NW of the drop room.  The room you are looking for is basically a mirror image of the room you are currently in.  Race over there, cross the rafters, and use your key on the east door (the only door the key will unlock).  Grab the key on the floor and head back to the SE room.  Cross the rafters and find the other locked door (to the northeast).  Grab another key and again run back to the NW rafters.  Use your latest key on the SW door.  Inside is the Pandemic Key.  Once you have it (and you can grab multiples if you really want to), you can leave.... for now.

Step 1c:  The Orphanage.  Wait, weren't we just here?  Unfortunately, your quest group needs to return here when you start in earnest.  It's a randomly spawning portal, so that can be a problem.  However, you can find a portal gem to the Orphanage in Black Marrow Reliquaries.  Sadly, BMRs aren't nearly as common as they used to be and they don't generate portal gems with anywhere near the old frequency.  Your only other choice is to have your team spread out on the Caul, find a portal, and then have everyone run to the coords.  That's a major pain, considering how mazey Caul is and how few people have a solid grasp of the terrain.

Step 2:  The Orphanage Revisited.  Now that you have prepped the quest and your group is assembled, it's time to get started for real.  I'd suggest you gather at the Caul drop to avoid unprepared questers.  Hand out your Lumps so that everyone has one.  Then buff up.  Shadowfire wands and Ghost Slayer wands would be ideal for mages.  Everyone else should have at least fire rend.  Archers should have a Ghost Slayer or Composite bow in addition to the fire rend.  Melees should also be packing a frost and physical rend or AR weapon.  When everyone is buffed, it's time to head to the Orphanage.  If you have a portal gem, fantastic.  If not, you'll have to fan out and find one.  Once everyone is in the dungeon (however you do it), kill whatever greets you at the drop and then move to the NE.  Find the path going down and stop short of the lightning room.  Kill the critters, then proceed into the lightning room and take the first right you see.  Use your Pandemic Key to open the door immediately to your left.  Note - the doors in this dungeon can be screwy.  They occasionally don't spawn properly, which makes them invisible but quite solid.  If that happens, just wait and they will appear.  Alternatively, you can hand the key to someone who can see the doors and unlock it that way.  Once the door is open, jump down the pit.  There are several drops as you go.  Each floor has a few critters at the bottom.  Kill them and keep going down.  The final drop can be nasty, as there are several Shadow Children of various species at the bottom.  Kill them quickly.  Once everything is dead, go through the exit from the pit that doesn't have a door and run across the large open room to the south.  Look for a passage on the west (right) wall as you go.  Go up it and kill whatever followed you.  Look around the room and you should see a black statue of the Hopeslayer.  Whatever you do, DO NOT use it.  It will kill you.  Instead, give it your lump and you will be teleported to the next dungeon.

Step 3:  Orphanage Wing.  This next dungeon is filled with nasty Shadows, some Grievvers, and Biakas.  Among the shadow species are three of some annoyance.  First, there are Shadow Captains.  These guys have magic-absorbing shields and wear armor, so you'll be able to tell them apart easily.  These guys counterbuff if you debuff them, so do not vuln them.  Fire rends are the way to go.  The second species are Shadow Hands.  These look like Viamontian Knights and are very resisty.  Mages will have a hard time debuffing them, but they can and should be debuffed.  The third species are Penumbral Shadow Mages.  These guys are strong spellcasters, but they die quickly.  You will need to fight pretty much everything, unfortunately.  From the drop, head north and take your first left.  You will be following the left wall for some time after this.  Your cue to change directions is when you come to the first four-way intersection after the second large room you encounter.  Once you find this four-way, take a right.  This should quickly lead to a downward ramp, so you will know you made the correct turn.  After you finish going down, be on the lookout for the first Y intersection you reach.  Note that a Y has 3 exits - there will be a couple Y-ish intersections prior to that, but those have 4 exits, not 3.  When you find the Y, take a left and then look for the first right turn.  This path will (eventually) lead you to a series of 90 degree down turns.  At the very bottom is a big room filled with many Black Breaths, a couple Shadow Mages, and most importantly, the portal to the Shadow Child's lair.

Step 4:  Prodigal Shadow Child's Lair.  You have a couple choices as to how to proceed against the boss fight.  Your buffs are likely running low at this point, so you should rebuff, but you can either choose to rebuff in the portal room (dangerous), or you can hit the boss portal, have everyone run to the exit portal in the boss room, and then rebuff on the Caul (also dangerous).  If you do choose to run through the boss room, you will have a good chance to show people what they should be doing if they die.  Back at the Caul drop, there is a statue like the one at the bottom of the Orphanage.  If you die, simply use the statue and you will be back in the fight.  Make sure you rebuff and recover your DIs (if necessary) before fighting again.  Make sure people know that they need to rejoin the fight ASAP in order for the team to win!  While people finish buffing, let everyone know the strategy you intend to use.  There are basically three waves of shadows you will need to beat.  When you arrive (or shortly thereafter, depending on how staggered the spawn is), you'll be facing wave one, which is basically a horde of the critters you've just been fighting in the Orphanage Wing.  There are also Shadow Eddys.  These are stationary tentacle things and supposedly these are the monsters that control the progression to the second spawn.  To beat this spawn, keep your team in the southern section of the boss chamber, but spread out a bit to minimize the likelihood of getting trapped and unable to dodge spells.  Spend the first minute of the fight killing the Shadow Mages, as they are the most likely monsters to kill anyone.  They do respawn though, so you want to get rid of a couple, but not eradicate them (as that would be futile).  After a minute, target the Eddys.  Mages should imperil, fire vuln, and then attack.  Archers should use Ghost Slayer or Shadow Slayer weapons.  Melees should not attack the Eddys and instead attack whatever monsters are near them, particularly any Shadow Mages still around.  Once the Eddys are gone, target the rest.  I would suggest you attack Shadow Mages and Hands first and leave Captains for last.  Once the first wave is clear, you'll have a brief breather, where you should restore your vitals and dispel.  The second wave will show up shortly.  This spawn is led by 3 Shadow Commanders (beefed up Captains) and 2 or 3 Shadow Sorceresses (beefed up Mages).  Target the Mages first, as they can be destroyed quickly.  Then hit the Commanders, remembering not to vuln them.  Once the leaders are down, take care of the rest.  Beware of the wispy Shadow Flames, which are immune to fire damage.  They also have a nasty habit of casting heavy ring spells when they die.  Melees should avoid at all costs.  Once the leadership is down, take out the rest of the spawn in the same order as the first wave.  The third and final wave sometimes overlaps the second wave.  This wave has two clearly identifiable bosses - Shadows of Black Ferah and Ler Rhan, two of the Hopeslayer's loyal generals.  Announce one as the target, debuff, and destroy.  Repeat on the other one.  Finish off any survivers and then move north and surround Kirienne Palacost.  Whatever you do, DO NOT talk to this NPC or you will die.  Eventually, a monster version of Kirienne will spawn.  She only has a couple thousand health and is not dangerous, so she'll go down quickly.  Whoever gets the kill get a global message.  Open her corpse and make sure everyone grabs a Scrap of Shadow Essence, then get out of there.

Step 5:  Rewards.  Take your scrap to Riordan Nightbane in Wei Jhou and hand it in.  You will receive an Aegis of the Golden Flame shield, which is a magic absorber with AL.  It's not much different from the other aegises, but it's stylish, right?  You will also receive XP, 15,000 Luminance, the title of Prodigal Shadow Slayer, and a two-use Mana Forge Key.  Congratulations!