Reclaiming the Quarry

Quest Giver: Etaruk, camped near the entrance to Coldrock Quarry [~52, 35]

Turn In: Etaruk [~52, 35]

Objective: Kill 12 Beryl Treasure Hunters.

Quick Facts

• Quest Type: Kill quest
• Quarry Location: [52, 33] to [53, 31], east of Amber Ledge
• Chain Position: First quest from Etaruk.
• Follow-up: Hampering Their Escape

Walkthrough

Travel east from Amber Ledge to Coldrock Quarry. Look for Etaruk, a tuskarr craftsman, camped near the quarry entrance on the southeastern slopes.

Combat Warning: Focus Beam

Beryl Treasure Hunters use Focus Beam, which applies the Focused debuff:

• Deals arcane damage per second
• Stacks with additional applications
• Increases your damage taken

When fighting multiple Treasure Hunters, the stacking debuff can quickly become dangerous. Pull carefully and avoid large groups.

Recommended Approach:

• Pull single targets when possible
• If you aggro multiple enemies, prioritize killing one quickly to reduce stacks
• Use defensive cooldowns if stacks accumulate
• The quarry has moderate respawn rates, so clear methodically

Story Context: The Nexus War Reaches Kaskala

Etaruk is a tuskarr craftsman from Kaskala, the nearby coastal village. Coldrock Quarry is a sacred tuskarr site where they carve ancestor statues from the living rock for important religious ceremonies.

Etaruk’s description: “My companions and I were preparing a new set of statues for their last set of rites when we saw those mysterious blue platforms come flying over the plateau. When they landed, the mages they carried swarmed the quarry, murdering my fellows and plundering the quarry.”

The attackers aren’t random bandits. They’re part of the Nexus War.

Lore: The Beryl Mages and the Blue Dragonflight

The “Beryl” forces (Treasure Hunters, Mage Hunters, Sorcerers, etc.) are former members of the Kirin Tor who defected to Malygos and the blue dragonflight during the Nexus War.

Malygos, the Aspect of Magic, had gone mad after losing most of his flight to Deathwing millennia ago. When he finally recovered his sanity, he concluded that mortal spellcasters were recklessly abusing arcane magic and endangering Azeroth. His solution: eliminate or subjugate all mortal mages.

Some Kirin Tor members, rather than fight the dragon Aspect, chose to join him. Transformed and empowered by Malygos, they became “mage hunters,” tasked with:

• Capturing or killing unauthorized magic users
• Destroying magical artifacts
• Constructing “surge needles” to redirect ley line energy to the Nexus

Why the Quarry?

The blue dragonflight specifically targeted Coldrock Quarry because the tuskarr use a particular stone for their ancestor statues. The mages wanted this stone to craft surge needles under the supervision of Curator Insivius, whom you’ll confront later in this quest chain.

Every tuskarr craftsman in the quarry was killed before Etaruk could escape. His “brothers in Kaskala have also come under attack” as part of the same offensive.

The Kalu’ak Connection

This quest awards Kalu’ak reputation, not Valiance Expedition. The Kalu’ak are the faction representing the tuskarr people, whose peaceful fishing villages have been caught in the crossfire of Northrend’s many conflicts.

Helping Etaruk defend his sacred quarry is one of the first steps toward building a relationship with this friendly faction.

Quest Chain Overview

This quest begins a three-part chain from Etaruk:

1. Reclaiming the Quarry (this quest) – Kill the Treasure Hunters looting the quarry
2. Hampering Their Escape – Destroy the blue dragonflight’s floating platforms
3. A Visit to the Curator – Kill Curator Insivius, the mage commanding the quarry operation

A parallel chain from Elder Atkanok (a large crystal representing a tuskarr ancestor at [54, 36]) focuses on recovering the sacred ancestor statues and ritual objects.

Explore Borean Tundra’s hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Borean Tundra Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.