Word on the Street

Quest Giver: Mark Hanes, Valiance Keep (near the inn)

Turn In: Leryssa, Valiance Keep Inn [58, 68]

Objective: Find Leryssa at the inn in Valiance Keep.

Quick Facts

• Prerequisite: Plug the Sinkholes
• Follow-Up: Thassarian, My Brother
• Chain Position: First of 10 quests in the Thassarian/Leryssa chain

Leryssa’s Location

• Inside the Valiance Keep inn, on the second floor.
• From the innkeeper, go upstairs and out onto the balcony at [58, 68].

How to Complete

Simply speak with Mark Hanes after completing Plug the Sinkholes, then head to the inn and find Leryssa on the second-floor balcony.

Lore Context

• Mark Hanes’s message is urgent: “There’s a girl in the inn that’s asking about you. Her name’s Leryssa. I don’t think she knows you, but she said she needed your help. She sounded really desperate.”
• Leryssa’s response when you arrive hints at the depth of her trouble: “Thank you for coming to see me. I didn’t know who else to contact.”
• This simple introduction begins one of WotLK’s most compelling storylines, the search for Thassarian, the first death knight to rejoin the Alliance after breaking free from the Scourge.

The Chain Ahead

This quest starts a 10-quest chain that weaves through Borean Tundra’s storyline:

1. Word on the Street
2. Thassarian, My Brother
3. The Late William Allerton
4. Lost and Found
5. In Wine, Truth
6. A Deserter
7. Cowards and Fools
8. The Son of Karkut
9. Surrounded!
10. Thassarian, the Death Knight

The chain ultimately leads to the climactic Last Rites quest, where Thassarian confronts Prince Valanar atop Naxxanar, the same San’layn prince who’s been manipulating Valiance Keep as “Counselor Talbot.”

Cross-Expansion: Thassarian’s Legacy

Thassarian became a fan-favorite character whose story continues across multiple expansions:

• Cataclysm: Leads Alliance forces at the Battle for Andorhal; watches helplessly as Sylvanas captures his friend Koltira Deathweaver
• Legion: Participates in the death knight campaign to rescue Koltira from years of torture in Undercity
• Dragonflight: Appears as “Monarch Thassarian” at WoW’s 20th Anniversary celebration

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.