The loose ends of Arko'narin
by Dawn Moore 
Apr 27th 2010 at 9:00AM
I really enjoy the concept behind achievements like The Loremaster and World Explorer. It has a very "go see and experience the world for yourself" feel to it that I can agree with. The problem is I think those achievements are a bit overwhelming for the average person, myself included. I really can't imagine actively going out and doing the hundreds of "gather 10 berries/feathers/saliva samples" quests for fun. What I'd really like to see is an achievement system that focuses more on quality than quantity: Loremaster Lite, for example, or World Explorer's Top 20 spots. Kind of like Blizzard's way of saying, "Hey, here is the stuff we are most proud of. Go see it."
Blizzard is busy, though. But hey! I'm here, and I even have a funny hat to wear in real life! It's not an explorer hat; it's a squid hat. (It looks like a squid is eating my head when I wear it.) As I sit here, allowing my brains to be munched on by this crocheted Cthulhu, I have to wonder: are all those things I love about the old world going to exist once Cataclysm comes out?
Suddenly I'm stricken with worry. What if I never get to see those things again? Worse, what if some people never see them at all?! So today I'm going to remedy this anxiety with one tiny step in the direction of furthering Azerothian awareness, and I'm going to start with the beautiful night elf warrior, Arko'narin.
If you don't know already, Arko'narin is an escort quest NPC found in the heart of Felwood, deep in the demon-infested burrow known as Jaedenar. When you first come upon Arko'narin, she is locked up in a cage and stripped to her undergarments. She is cold, worried about her missing friend, Trey Lightforge, and begging for your help. What kind of dragon-slaying, white knight of a nerd would you be if you didn't help her out?
To help her, you will need to find a quest starting item off one of the mobs in the burrow: the Blood Red Key. The item has a high drop rate, so it should take you little time to find one, provided you meet the level 49 requirement for the quest. (As a precaution, the quest can easily be soloed in the mid 50s, but if you're lower level you may benefit from the help of a friend or loyal pet.) Once you find the key, you will have to open the keyring on your bags to accept the quest and then you'll be able to free Arko'narin from her captors.
From here on out, if you'd like to do the quest on your own without spoilers, you should stop reading and check back later. As further incentive, I can tell you this is my favorite escort quest in the game, and Arko'narin has a few surprises outside of the ordinary escort NPC. She has a strange blend of combat abilities, combining warrior and priest; she also has some unique character animations I've never seen anywhere else in the game. Anyway, spoilers are ahead; you've been warned.
Once you've freed Arko'narin she will lead you deeper into Jaedenar to find the gear that was taken from her. Typical of most escort quests, she will provide some amusing commentary on the slow walk through the caverns. It's slow going, but bear with her; as soon as she is in range of her armor she will rush forward, throw on her gear (Wonder Woman-style) and take hold of the Lightforge, the sword of her lost companion. This is the point where the flavor of the escort take a big turn.
Ready to go, Arko'narin will charge forth with a battle cry and commence fighting a slew of demons that spawn. This might not seem like anything out of the ordinary, but in vanilla WoW it was definitely not the norm for escort quests. To see a character actively and respectably engaging in combat, especially with as much gusto as Arko'narin does, was one of the most amazing things I ever saw back in vanilla. She really gets in there, calling down Holy Fire and swinging her fiery sword in midair as the Jaedenar demons knock her back. The only drawback to the quest is that after she gets her gear, she continues to walk (I guess she's still cold) so the wait can be boring if you're higher level. Be sure to watch her fight and kick butt though, as she puts on quite the show.
When you finally get out of the burrow, Arko'narin faces once last challenge: the corrupted spirit of Trey Lightforge, who accuses her of betrayal. Arko'narin is clearly confused as she is forced into battle with her former companion. Aid her in defeating Trey and you'll finish your quest objective. Unfortunately, when all is done, poor Arko'narin seems guilt-ridden and horrified at what she's done; she runs off, never to be seen again.
When you turn in the follow-up quest for your reward at the Emerald Sanctuary, Jessir Moonbow will task you with a couple more quests to tie up Arko'narin's loose ends by seeing Trey's remains put to rest. Upon completing those quests, I expected to see Arko'narin show up again, but to my dismay, she did not. This left me feeling quite ... unsatisfied. At the time, this was a very vividly presented story for WoW and I wanted more. All we got was this snippet of a story of these two characters, but there is never a full explanation of who they were or what they were doing in Felwood. Were Trey and Arko'narin friends, comrades or something more? Is she a paladin? Is he? What's the story behind the Lightforge? What is she going to do next? The story of Arko'narin, while complete, leaves me wanting more.
Loose ends aside, I still think it's a fantastic quest. Blizzard clearly put some extra effort into this one little quest, and that isn't something I can honestly say about every quest. To be extremely vague while also very specific, it's "one of those quests." What I mean by that is that is that Arko'narin's quest is one of those quests you always remember; the ones really worth doing to get the experience of WoW. If you go try the quest out for yourself, or have already done it, let us know what you thought of it.
I just hope we'll see Arko'narin again in Cataclysm.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Tricia Apr 27th 2010 9:07AM
I remember that quest chain from my Loremaster work :) It was a good one. Some quests are just good, little pieces of entertainment that make me wish for more.
Sort of like the oft times mentioned Sylvanus lament quest chain. I do it on every one of my characters, because it's so sad, and beautiful.
Likewise, the Pamela Redgrave/Darrowshire quest chain is one I do a lot. It's another one which has such a poignant story to it.
Zal Apr 27th 2010 9:48AM
Have you seen my Dolly? I love that entire quest chain. I have done it on every single toon that has ever reached the 50's. It is one of my game benchmarks, like reaching a level to get a mount, or getting high enough to quest in Outland/Northrend. The story is just so damned sad, and like todays Breakfast Topic about where the epic feel went in game.... this quest chain was just epic to me. It was the very first time in the game as I was levelng that I remember feeling like I wasn't really playing a game, but I was guy/cat/bear/moonkin thingy, who had gotten mixed up in this Greek tragedy, and I somehow felt responsible for making sure I could help bring these troubled spirits some peace in the afterlife. For the first time in the game, it just felt so... well... WOW!!!
Johan Forn Apr 27th 2010 10:47AM
I remember tearing out my hair, back in the days where it was really tough. It was an interesting adventure though. Anything that replaces grind quests is welcome.
Chrissie Apr 27th 2010 11:09AM
I did enjoy that on my first character (I steered mostly clear of the Plaguelands on the next two), but I ended up stuck with the Battle of Darrowshire in my log because I had trouble soloing it at 70 and couldn't be arsed to ask for help.
I am hoping to see it soon on my 80 (was my 3rd 70 at the time and didn't quest that much), on whom I'm working on Loremaster.
Skarwolf Apr 27th 2010 11:17AM
That quest was good but there was truly an epic quest which began with the ghost Hero of the Horde at the entrance to the Blasted Lands. It involved talking to a demon hunter in azshara to searching through giant poop using felhounds to find some crystals to forging special weapons and combatting numerous elites and with a final battle atop a large hill in blasted lands against a demon lord.
Check it out, 17 steps lol http://www.wowwiki.com/Fallen_Hero_of_the_Horde
Lachdanan Apr 27th 2010 11:19AM
Yeah the Darrowshire quest chain is awesome; have you seen this machinima Cranius machinima made about it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dTxcHulFBI)?
I really liked the Bridenbrad quest chain in Icecrown too, and even more so when I learned the story behind it.
PS: if you like Lament of the Highborne, you can have it play in-game with this command:
/script PlaySoundFile("Sound\\Music\\GlueScreenMusic\\BCCredits_Lament_of_the_Highborne.mp3")
Randron Apr 27th 2010 12:35PM
I actually like this quest, but it's SUPER hard when she pulls half the dungeon. The point where she views her armor, she runs past a group of 2 of the cultists, and then after she gets her armor and the first 3 demons spawn, those two cultists add, making it a wipe if you're level appropriate. Make sure you engage those on the way down and getting her attention so she'll attack them too BEFORE she goes for the armor.
Also, back in the day, after you breeze through this escort quest for 20 minutes and you finally encounter Lightforge, he was ELITE and couldn't readily be solo'ed, so it was a huge let down back in Vanilla :|
I'm not quite sure i've ever one shot this escort, even recently :D Love-Hate quest for sure! :D
Skats Apr 27th 2010 12:38PM
The Little Pamela quest chain is by far the best in the game (in my opinion), followed closely by the Saving Sharpbeak chain in Hinterlands. Doing the Pamela chain, pre-BC, at appropriate level on my first toon was beyond epic. For the first time I had the feeling of really accomplishing something in the game and actually participating in the story line vs. ramdom kills and collections. This is what I want more of in Cataclysm. This style of questing.
Also - the Scythe of Elune in Duskwood. By chance, I had one toon working the Jitters end of the story line in Duskwood while a different toon worked the Elune side of the story in Ashenvale at the same time. When I realized the two chains were about the same item - one leading to the scythe getting lost, the other leading to the scythe after it was found - that was also beyone epic to me. The details of the quest writers in that era of the game was wonderful!
Microtonal Apr 27th 2010 2:49PM
I love the Arko'narin chain, and Dawn is absolutely right about the empty, unresolved feeling you get afterward. Scythe of Elune is great, too, as is the Linken quest chain in Un'Goro.
My absolute favorite quest in the game, though, is Guardians of the Altar in Winterspring. It's just one breadcrumb quest and one escort quest, but I get gooseflesh every time I finish it.
Kay Apr 27th 2010 9:11AM
Everyone on alliance should do the Sully Baloo quest chain. Hard to find, but absolutely worth it.
talitha3k Apr 27th 2010 9:26AM
I did that one a couple of days ago after seeing it mentioned here. I admit to tearing up.
Andostre Apr 27th 2010 10:20AM
Seconded. This is easily my favorite questline.
dcisko Apr 27th 2010 11:28AM
Yes, agreed. Look for a sodden letter in the waters beneath the Thandol Span.
travist120 Apr 27th 2010 9:12AM
Sounds like an amazing story, I've always liked Felwood and Winterspring. These are perhaps the least visited zones, but I am always ever curious about the story and lore behind these places. In fact, I had never known about the demons hidden in the corner of felwood until I stumbled upon them while leveling herbalism on my death knight. It makes me wonder what they are still doing there now that Kil'Jaeden is all kaput.
I'll have to see this quest for myself :]
Jamie Apr 27th 2010 10:17AM
Winterspring is my favourite zone! I always make a point to go there and often miss out the plaguelands because of it.
There is something very epic about that zone, you just don't get the same feeling of grand scale and natural beauty anywhere else in vanilla WoW, Azshara comes close with its large annoying cliffs but it really is overrun and a very tiresome place to be, I've never felt that even while having to run back and forth to Donova Snowden from Everlook.
haloxinreverse Apr 27th 2010 9:12AM
A couple patches have decreased the time it takes to level meaning whole zones can be skipped now. I remember doing these quests the first time through and having to do the more out of the way quests because they were the only ones that would help level you.
About the Loremaster achievement though, its actually not difficult if you tackle it in stages. There are a lot of great resources out there to help a player on their way such as the wowhead comments and a few websites that focus completely on achievements.
Biggest help to the old school questing player now is the ability to track low level quests. If you tackle this achievement, you might be surprised how fast it can go and how personally rewarding it will feel.
Beigemain Apr 27th 2010 9:13AM
I like the quest, but have you noticed that once Arko'narin puts on her gear, her health pool goes down? Its like her gear has -stamina on it!
Explodedsheep Apr 27th 2010 9:12AM
I'm not actually too worried about losing too much of these sort of quests. Blizzard is a company, and so they want to make money. If they get rid of epic and memorable quests, people enjoy the game less, and are more likely to leave, meaning Blizzard makes less money.
Plus, I'm sure some developer had as much fun making the quest as players have had playing it, and they would be sad to see it go. They might be improved - we might get the loose ends of Arko'narin cleared up - but I doubt it'll disappear.
KrusherX Apr 27th 2010 10:22AM
The other thing is that the world is evolving. Sure, some nice quests like this one will be lost and only remembered by old timers. I'm kind of an optimistic person that thinks new, equally awesome quests will be brought forth in cata.
I for one am glad the world is moving on. How many times have you saved this night elf on alts and while helping friends? I'm tired of saving the world every week and starting it all again on a tuesday night.
I say bring on the new stuff, let the bridge in ashenvale be finished...
Allison Robert Apr 27th 2010 9:16AM
I've done this quest but couldn't quite place it until I realized that she's the NPC with an interesting bit of flavor text after your business with her is finished. Arko'narin does eventually respawn in her cage, and you can talk to her again. The response is as memorable as the quest that preceded it, because it's one of WoW's very few (and slightly creepy, albeit in a cool way) acknowledgments of the strange "reality" of Azeroth:
"As you inspect the cage and night elf inside, you get an odd sense of deja vu. For some reason she does not make eye contact with you-- it's almost as if you are not there to her."
It was unexpected -- most NPCs for whom you've finished quests just don't talk to you, period, or say something unrelated to the quest -- but I also thought pretty neat.