The Captive Prospectors

Quest Giver: Mountaineer Kilian — Prospector’s Point, Grizzly Hills [77, 49]

Objective: Collect Dun Argol Cage Keys from enemies in Dun Argol, then use them to free Prospector Gann, Prospector Torgan, and Prospector Varana. Return to Mountaineer Kilian.

Quick Facts

• Level: 75
• Location: Dun Argol, Grizzly Hills
• Prerequisite: Check Up on Raegar
• Leads To: Looking the Part
• Pairs With: The Perfect Plan (same area, same enemies)

Walkthrough

• Cage keys drop from nearly every enemy type in Dun Argol: iron dwarves, Runic War Golems, and lightning elementals all have a high drop rate. You will almost certainly collect far more keys than the three you need while fighting through to the cages.
• The three prospectors are held in cages spread across Dun Argol’s ascending tiers. The cages are the same color as the surrounding buildings and very easy to miss. Do not expect bright wooden cages; look for metal structures matching the iron dwarf architecture.

Prospector Locations:

• Prospector Gann: [76, 55] — Inside a building on the first tier. The only cage that is indoors.
• Prospector Torgan: [76, 58] — Second landing, straight ahead along the main path. Outside.
• Prospector Varana: [75, 61] — Third landing. After passing Torgan’s cage, take the stairs to the right to reach the higher tier.

Efficiency Tips

• Do Alongside: Pick up The Perfect Plan at the same time. Both quests send you into the same area, fighting the same enemies, and you’ll collect keys and blueprint sections simultaneously as you work your way up through Dun Argol’s tiers.
• Work from the bottom up. Free Gann first at [76, 55], then Torgan at [76, 58], then Varana at [75, 61] as you ascend through the fortress. This follows the natural progression path.
• Cages respawn in approximately 3 minutes if another player has recently freed a prospector.

Known Quirk: Do Not Enter the Cages

• You may get physically stuck inside the cages after opening them. Click the cage to interact from outside; do not walk into it.

Lore Context

Raegar originally sent this prospector team into Dun Argol to search for artifacts and historical information about the iron dwarf settlement.

They didn’t expect the place to be so heavily garrisoned and were captured. The quest giver, Mountaineer Kilian, notes with some exasperation that Raegar is “too busy fantasizing about defeating the irons to be of much help,” leaving the rescue to the player.

When freed, the prospectors share intelligence about Loken and a war against stone giants, confirming Raegar’s instincts and setting up the Loken infiltration questline that follows. This quest leads directly into Looking the Part, the beginning of the disguise chain.

Dev Note

• The completion text in-game still references “Kronus” instead of “Loken” in some versions. This is a leftover from beta, where the character’s name was changed partway through development but this particular dialogue was missed.

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