Stillmoon, the Ascent and Thundercrest

Stillmoon Temple

A zone database describes the temple as home to goblins and dragonkin loyal to Rikkukin and Kessdona, the dragons of the Ascent. It is a place of refined buildings, brilliant gardens, the purest water and libraries of knowledge and magic, and its people obey only those two dragons, who are loyal to neither Firiona Vie nor Lanys T`Vyl. It is listed as an indoor instanced zone for levels 55 to 70 that connects to the Ascent and the Broodlands; fan maps show the Broodlands exit as a click on a wall.

The temple turns up elsewhere in the game’s text. The archive lists four texts that name it, among them the in-game book Love Lost, Selay and Lethar Vol. I, whose writer sees a vision of the temple courtyard, and a Rivervale artisan, Bill Whistletop, whose final task sends players there.

Its residents include laborers, novices, loremasters, seers, a Stillmoon drake, stone wings, granite keepers, dirt tenders, basalt mages, clay sentinels and a Spirit Keeper. Fan maps name Bathhouse Manager Hakvar, Guards Musashi and Nobunaga, Hervash the Foreman, Hong Lei, Jadewing, Jorvash the Usurper, Stoneskin, Temple Foreman Korsav, Tunk the Fluid, Wei Chung, Wei Zhang, the Keepers of Strength and Wisdom, a silent hunter and decrepit guards. Recorded drops tie gear to several of them: Sleeves of the White Lotus to Hong Lei, the Mask of Shadowed Steps to Jadewing, the Sash of the Fierce Spirit to Jorvash, the Gloves of the Light Earth to Hakvar and the Kirin Skin Belt to Stoneskin.

Sources: Allakhazam: Stillmoon Temple (zone) · EQ map files (Brewall Rainsinger maps) · Library of Erudin: Stillmoon Temple

The Keepers at the temple

In the transcribed Keepers dialogue, the chieftain says dragons of the pair’s kind once betrayed Firiona, and the Keepers fear Kessdona and Rikkukin may betray Norrath too. Areha Burina has found a path to the temple’s wyrms.

The Keepers set out to keep the temple’s waters pure, secure the knowledge in its scrolls and stop an attack by the Snowfoot goblins. Their tasks are Greed of the Goblins, which means killing 11 Stillmoon Laborers; Protect the Waters, for five Purified Nest Waters; and Turn the Tides of the Sand, for seven Sandy Goblin Bloods. The Trial of Perseverance raid is held in the temple, where a Stillmoon warlord yields the Goblin Warlord’s Beads, and so is Guardian of the Sands, whose target the chieftain names as Shogurei.

Other quests start here too: Kirin Soap, Trial of Strength and Trial of Wisdom, the Dark Reign tasks Clearing the Path, Army of Stone, Blood from Sand and Muddy the Waters, and a Drakkin task from Crescent Reach called Memories of Stillmoon. Missions launched from the Broodlands include Animated Statue Plans, Best Laid Plans, Diseased Pumas, Scales of Justice, Sickness of the Spirit, Tea for Thy Master and Tracking the Kirin.

Sources: Pak'Cafan: Dragons of Norrath progression (dialogue transcription) · Allakhazam: Stillmoon Temple (zone) · Allakhazam: The Broodlands (zone)

The Ascent

A 2009 official update article describes the Ascent as the rocky, icy cliffs past Stillmoon Temple, climbing to the Mountain Peak lair of Kessdona the Enlightened and Rikkukin the Defender.

The zone database calls the climb treacherous, because the mountain swarms with the two dragons’ servants. The lower half is the safer one, mostly spiders and hunting cats; the upper half is crowded with goblins, drakes and kirins, many of which see invisible travelers and wander. It is an outdoor zone for levels 60 to 75, and fan maps show exits back to the temple and clickable crossings between the halves.

The Keepers recover eight Shredded Map Pieces, kill nine kirins to protect their kirin contact, sending an offering of peace and reassurance, and kill ten Snowfoot goblins in revenge. The Dark Reign mirror tasks are Reap the Kirin Mind and Snowfoot Attack, and the quest Mask of the Hidden pays out from a mysterious chest. Missions include Kessdona’s Perch, Death Comes Swiftly, Drake Eggs, Reflections of Silver, Signal Fires, Storm Dragon Scales and Sudden Tremors.

The mountain’s population is Snowfoot goblins of many kinds, kirin masters, students, wanderers and way keepers, granite bishops and defenders, cliffside pumas and crevice weavers. Named creatures include Wounded Claw, Venom, Ice Vein, Shadedshard, Grunk the Wicked, a Puma Matron and a crazed statue.

Sources: EverQuest.com (2009): Frosty Hot Summer Game Update Highlights · Allakhazam: The Ascent (zone) · EQ map files (Brewall Rainsinger maps) · Pak'Cafan: Dragons of Norrath progression (dialogue transcription) · Allakhazam: The Broodlands (zone)

Thundercrest Isles

The zone database says the isles are home to Yar`Lir and her many servants, and are thought to hold a wealth of knowledge, magic and history about the dragon grounds of northeast Antonica. The residents call themselves the Thunder Guardians, and the Dirtdigger goblins keep to the Dojo, the central complex, and its grounds. It is an outdoor zone for levels 60 to 75, spread over a few islands. One guide says it has several exits back to the Broodlands, while fan maps show one.

The chieftain sends players against the goblins of the isles and calls the Dojo trial a race against the Dark Reign to win the goblins’ favor. In the Goblin Dojo raid the Storm Reach Sensei yields a Meditation Stone, and An End to the Storms is fought here too. Item records show Yar`Lir’s Fang dropping from Yar`Lir the Living Storm and an Oculus of Yar`Lir in the raid chest.

The chieftain says Yar`Lir was no friend to the Keepers and that her death badly disturbed the Nest. Each time the storm dragon’s magic is broken, he says, the Nest where the eggs rest grows darker, and nobody knows why. The Keepers’ task The Sacred Scrolls asks for seven Ancient Scrolls of Wisdom and to learn the history of the isles, and the Dark Reign’s matching task is Knowledge is Power.

Sources: Allakhazam: Thundercrest Isles (zone) · Rasper's Realm: Thundercrest Isles · EQ map files (Brewall Rainsinger maps) · Pak'Cafan: Dragons of Norrath progression (dialogue transcription)

Who lives on the isles

The isles hold many kinds of earth sentinel, from bedrock and clay to mud and rock, along with Dirtdigger adepts, bonecrackers, soulcallers and spiritists, frostclaw whirlwinds and pumas.

One guide lists 20 rares: Fersama, Fumi the Vigilant, Gox Ironmaw, Hidekazu, Hidetada, Hidetora, Kafu the Turbulent, Kodama the Voltaic, Kunz Boomsetter, Mihoko the Rector, Minoru the Crafty, Ninsei the Tempest, Rinako the Stalwart, Sor Stormrech, Sugita the Vicarious, Toshiharu, Toshinobu, Yoshiaga, Yoshihiro and Yukari the Enlightened. It adds three small raid events: Raging Thunderhead, with Storm Chasers, Thunderheads and Stormfronts; the Lore Warden, with four Messenger Drakes, where the right answer is no; and Four Corners, with the Ironforged and Clayforged Protectors, Shadowspitter and Muligiwa the Toxic. Fan maps add Yar`Lir the Living Storm, a Mudforged Protector and a Dirtdigger bodybreaker.

Missions on the isles are An End to the Storms, Behind Closed Doors, Goblin Dojo, History of the Isle, Holy Hour, House of the Autumn Rose, Lair Unguarded, Plunder the Hoard, Scions of Thundercrest, Simple Task, Splitting the Storm, The Creator, The Gilded Scroll and Throes of Contagion.

Sources: Allakhazam: Thundercrest Isles (zone) · Rasper's Realm: Thundercrest Isles · EQ map files (Brewall Rainsinger maps) · Allakhazam: The Broodlands (zone)