On Ruby Wings

Quest Giver: Torastrasza — top of Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight

Turn In: Alexstrasza the Life-Binder — top of Wyrmrest Temple, Dragonblight

Objective: Destroy 30 Wastes Scavengers and recover the Scythe of Antiok. Return to Alexstrasza.

Quick Facts

• Faction: Alliance and Horde (shared quest)
• Quest Level: 74
• Chain Position: Quest 5 in the Wrathgate series (final quest before Return To Angrathar)
• Leads To: Return To Angrathar (Alliance)/Return To Angrathar (Horde) — the Wrathgate cinematic

Walkthrough

This quest has two distinct phases: aerial drake combat against Scourge scavengers, followed by a ground fight against Grand Necrolord Antiok.

Phase 1: Drake Combat at Galakrond’s Rest

Use the Ruby Beacon of the Dragon Queen to summon a Wyrmrest Vanquisher. Mount the drake and fly north to Galakrond’s Rest [54, 34], the massive excavation site where Scourge forces are digging up dragon bones.

Your drake has two abilities:

• Flame Fury (Ability 1): Your primary attack. AoE fire breath that reliably kills Wastes Scavengers. Fly low (within ~30 yards of targets) and aim slightly ahead of your flight path. This is the only ability that consistently kills scavengers outright.
• Engulfing Flame (Ability 2): Targeted fireball with longer range. Useful against Thiassi but unreliable against scavengers. It may leave scavengers at 1 HP without killing them. Use Flame Fury instead for the 30-kill count.

Important: Only kill scavengers inside the main dig site at Galakrond’s Rest. Scavengers in smaller bone piles around the perimeter may not count for quest credit.

Watch for rotting storm giants wandering the area. The quest text specifically warns about them, and they can damage your drake. Avoid engaging them; focus on the scavengers.

Phase 2: The Wicked Coil — Thiassi and Antiok

After killing 30 scavengers, fly to the Wicked Coil at approximately [54, 31], a spiraling rock pillar overlooking Galakrond’s Rest from the north. Grand Necrolord Antiok rides on the shoulder of Thiassi the Lightning Bringer, an undead storm giant.

Antiok has Shroud of Lightning, rendering him completely immune to all damage while mounted on Thiassi. You must kill Thiassi first. Use both Flame Fury and Engulfing Flame on the storm giant.

Thiassi fights back with Thiassi’s Stormbolt (Nature damage) and War Stomp (knockback + 4 sec stun on nearby targets).

When Thiassi dies, you are automatically dismounted. Antiok drops to the ground and becomes attackable. You fight him on foot as a normal mob.

Do NOT attempt to use your drake against Antiok after dismounting. Re-summoning the drake and attacking Antiok from dragonback causes him to despawn. Fight him on the ground only.

Antiok’s Abilities:

• Scream of Chaos: 10-second fear on all nearby enemies. This is his most dangerous ability. A PvP trinket, Will of the Forsaken (Undead racial), Every Man for Himself (Human racial), or Berserking can break or mitigate this.
• Shadow Bolt: Shadow damage that also increases shadow damage taken by 10% for 10 seconds. Stacks can become dangerous if the fight drags on.
• Flesh Harvest: Melee-range physical damage (rends flesh from bone).

Antiok is not particularly tanky once Shroud of Lightning drops. Interrupt or outrange the Shadow Bolts if possible, and break the fear quickly.

When he dies, the Scythe of Antiok appears as a glowing object on the ground at approximately [54, 31]. This is a public loot object; any player on the quest can loot it regardless of who got the kill.

Return to Alexstrasza at the top of Wyrmrest Temple (use Torastrasza’s drake taxi from ground level if needed).

Tips

• Pet class bug (Hunters/Warlocks): Dismiss your pet before mounting the drake. Pets interfere with Flame Fury’s ability to register kills on scavengers. If scavengers aren’t dying, dismiss pet first.
• Scavengers stuck at 1 HP: If Flame Fury isn’t killing them, fly lower. You need to be close enough that your attacks aggro the mobs. Bombarding from high altitude without generating aggro prevents kills from registering.
• Drake died? Use the Ruby Beacon to re-summon it anywhere in the area. No need to return to Wyrmrest Temple.
• Don’t log off mid-air. The drake despawns and you fall to your death upon logging back in.
• Don’t use Vanish or Feign Death against Antiok. Any ability that drops combat causes Antiok to despawn immediately.
• High-level characters (75+): You can skip the drake entirely. Kill the scavengers on foot (though their bone attack hits hard and they chain-aggro) and fight Thiassi/Antiok on the ground. You still get full quest credit.
• Save the drake for exploration (optional): The Wyrmrest Vanquisher remains usable throughout Dragonblight while this quest is active. You can deliberately delay turn-in to use the drake as a flying mount for faster questing in the zone.

Lore Context

Torastrasza sends you to Galakrond’s Rest because the Scourge is actively excavating the bones of Galakrond, the colossal proto-dragon whose skeleton dominates the Dragon Wastes.

Grand Necrolord Antiok commands the operation, and his ambient dialogue makes the stakes explicit: “Soon the bones of Galakrond will rise from their eternal slumber and wreak havoc upon this world!” and “The Lich King demands more frost wyrms be sent to Angrathar!”

Antiok is referenced by name in Account of the Raising of a Frost Wyrm, a book found inside Acherus: The Ebon Hold (the Death Knight starting zone): “With a gesture from Grand Necrolord Antiok, the bones shuddered and lurched above the ground, rotating slowly into place.”

He is the Scourge’s chief frost wyrm raiser. The Scythe he carries is the tool of his necromancy, and its recovery is what Alexstrasza needs to neutralize the threat to Galakrond’s remains.

Alexstrasza’s completion text reflects the gravity of your success: “I knew that you would return. You have served the Wyrmrest Accord and saved your people from certain death. Let it be known to all and let it be recorded for posterity!”

Easter Eggs & References

• Thiassi (Norse Mythology): Þjazi is a giant from Norse mythology associated with wind, storm, and ice. He is best known for kidnapping the goddess Iðunn and her apples of eternal youth. Like his mythological counterpart, this Thiassi is a giant associated with storms and cold.

• Thiassi and Gymer: Thiassi the Lightning Bringer is the undead brother of Gymer, the ruler of Northrend’s living storm giants. Gymer was lured into a Scourge trap by Thiassi and imprisoned. Players encounter Gymer later in Zul’Drak, where a memorable questline has you freeing and then riding the massive storm giant as a vehicle to assault Scourge forces. You are, in effect, dealing with the same family in both zones.

• Antioch (Monty Python, unconfirmed): “Antiok” references the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. “Antiok” is phonetically very close to “Antioch.” Blizzard has numerous Monty Python references throughout WoW (Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, “Ni!”, etc.).

Cross-Expansion Connections

Galakrond’s Rest is one of the most revisited locations in WoW’s history:

• Cataclysm (Hour of Twilight): Galakrond’s Rest serves as a rendezvous point with red drakes during the events leading to the Dragon Soul raid. Twilight agents led by Asira Dawnslayer ambush Thrall and his companions here to stop them from reaching Wyrmrest Temple.
• Dawn of the Aspects (novel, 2013): Kalecgos is drawn to Galakrond’s Rest and discovers a mysterious artifact that forces him to relive the history of the proto-dragons and Galakrond’s defeat by the five future Aspects. This novel establishes that the Aspects were first empowered near this very location.
• Legion: A paladin champion of Tyr’s Guard named Galford travels to Galakrond’s Rest seeking clues to help his order claim The Silver Hand. He encounters a Spark of Tyr before meeting his end at the hands of the titan-forged watcher Jotun.
• Dragonflight (Dawn of the Infinite dungeon): Part of this mega-dungeon takes place at Galakrond’s Rest 20,000 years in the past, immediately after Galakrond’s death. Iridikron allies with the Infinite Dragonflight and travels to this moment to empower a relic called the Dark Heart using Galakrond’s still-bleeding corpse.
• The War Within: Alleria Windrunner returns to Galakrond’s Rest to investigate the Dark Heart’s origins and a missing Riftwalker, directly connecting this ancient proto-dragon graveyard to the current expansion’s central storyline.