Cleansing Drak’Tharon

Quest Giver: Image of Drakuru — summoned at Drakil’jin Ruins brazier [71.7, 26.2] (from completing Voices From the Dust)

Objective: Collect 5 Enduring Mojo from living Drakkari trolls inside Drak’Tharon Keep, then use Drakuru’s Elixir at the brazier behind the final boss to trigger the betrayal reveal.

Quick Facts

• Level: 75 (requires level 73)
• Type: Dungeon
• Chain Position: 8 of 8 in the Drakuru chain (Grizzly Hills finale)
• Prerequisite: Voices From the Dust
• Instance: Drak’Tharon Keep — Normal (74-78), Heroic (80)
• Entrance: Northern Grizzly Hills [17.7, 23.2], on the border with Zul’Drak
• Continues in: Zul’Drak — An Invitation, of Sorts… (begins from looting Unliving Choker from Withered Trolls near Zeramas)

Do Alongside

Pick up the other Drak’Tharon Keep quests before entering:

• Search and Rescue — Prereq: Scourgekabob → Seared Scourge. Find Kurzel in the spider room (wrapped in webs), which unlocks Head Games (use quest item on second boss Novos the Summoner’s corpse).

Walkthrough

Step 1: Collect 5 Enduring Mojo

• Enduring Mojo drops from living Drakkari trolls inside the dungeon: Drakkari Guardians, Drakkari Commanders, and Drakkari Shamans. These are found on the Overlook, the upper terrace near the end of the dungeon after the Raptor Pens.
• The Overlook features living Drakkari fighting undead Drakkari. Only the living trolls drop Enduring Mojo, and only if you engage them at full health. If they’ve been damaged by fighting undead, the drop can fail.
• Drop rate is generous (most groups collect 5+ per person during a normal clear). Mojo is lootable by all party members from each mob, so coordinate but don’t stress about competition.
• Auction House alternative: Enduring Mojo is tradeable and often cheap on the AH. Buying 5 before entering lets stealth classes skip directly to the brazier. Drakkari Shamans outside the instance entrance also drop it, though less reliably.

Step 2: Clear to the Final Boss

• Progress through Drak’Tharon Keep’s four bosses: Trollgore → Novos the Summoner → King Dred → The Prophet Tharon’ja.
• The dungeon is one of WotLK’s shortest instances. A focused group can clear it in 20-25 minutes.

Step 3: Defeat The Prophet Tharon’ja

• Tharon’ja is a wind serpent loa who transforms your party into skeletons mid-fight (with a new ability bar). Kill him normally, then in skeleton phase, then again when you transform back.
• After the kill, do not leave the area.

Step 4: Use the Elixir at the Brazier

• Drakuru’s Brazier is behind Tharon’ja’s platform, down a short flight of stairs past where the boss stood.
• Right-click Drakuru’s Elixir while near the brazier with 5 Enduring Mojo in your bags.
• As with all Drakuru elixir uses: it consumes ALL Enduring Mojo in your bags.
• Group timing: If a party member summons Drakuru while you’re also trying to use the elixir, your mojo will be consumed with no effect. Wait for the first player’s RP to finish; Drakuru remains interactable by everyone afterward.

Step 5: Watch the Betrayal (RP Scene, ~3 Minutes)

After summoning, Drakuru walks up to Tharon’ja’s platform. The following scene plays out:

Drakuru surveys Drak’Tharon Keep and says he’s done well, that you’ve surpassed his greatest hopes, and that your reward will be “revelation.” He calls out to his master. A portal opens and the Lich King himself appears.

Drakuru kneels and reports: “With da help of these mortals, dis region been cleansed of all who oppose us.”

The Lich King praises Drakuru’s betrayal of the Drakkari Empire, declares the undead here are now Drakuru’s army, and physically transforms him with dark magic (Drakuru becomes larger and darker-skinned). The Lich King charges Drakuru with “the cleansing of Zul’Drak” and departs with a threat: “Fail me and it shall be your undoing.”

Drakuru then turns to you: “Forgive my deception, mon. It all been for your own good. Ya needed ta prove yer worthiness. I be needin’ worthy underlings in Zul’Drak, mon. Ones ready to wield real power.”

He offers you a place in the Scourge’s ranks.

• STAY BY THE BRAZIER during the RP. If you follow Drakuru up to the boss platform while the Lich King is present, Arthas will kill you.
• After the Lich King departs and Drakuru finishes speaking, the “?” appears over his head. Go up and turn in.

Step 6: Turn In Quickly

• Drakuru stands where Tharon’ja was. If Tharon’ja has respawned (or you’re on a timer), you may aggro the boss when approaching.
• Know your reward choice beforehand. You may only have seconds before taking damage. Accept the reward and run.
• Rogues: Evasion → turn in → Vanish. Druids: turn in → Prowl. Everyone else: sprint for the exit (jump down holes to lower levels; the boss will eventually leash).

Stealth Solo Guide (Rogues/Druids) This quest is famously soloable by stealth classes:

1. Pre-purchase 5 Enduring Mojo from the AH (or farm from Drakkari Shamans outside the instance).
2. Stealth through the entire dungeon. Bear right after the second boss area (don’t go up the stairs). Navigate past the spider room, bat room, and raptor pens.
3. Stealth past Tharon’ja to the brazier behind him.
4. Use the elixir, wait for the RP to complete (~3 minutes, all cooldowns will reset during this time).
5. Approach Drakuru, accept reward, and escape (Vanish/Prowl, or simply die and corpse-run out).

Troubleshooting

• Brazier won’t activate: Confirm you have both Drakuru’s Elixir AND 5 Enduring Mojo. You do NOT need to defeat Tharon’ja first (stealth players confirm it works with the boss alive).
• Drakuru appears but has no “?”: Wait for the full RP scene to complete (~3 minutes). The turn-in only becomes available after the Lich King departs.
• Lost elixir: Return to Drakuru in his cage at Granite Springs [16, 47] for a replacement.
• Abandoned quest: Go back to Drakil’jin Ruins [71.8, 26.1], collect 5 Sacred Mojo from outdoor trolls, and summon Drakuru at the brazier. He’ll re-offer the quest.
• Party member consumed your mojo: If someone else summons Drakuru and you use the elixir during his RP, your mojo vanishes. Just wait and talk to Drakuru after the scene; you can still turn in.

Lore Context

This is the culmination of the entire Drakuru deception. Every artifact you gathered (Eye of the Prophets, Heart of the Ancients, Drakkari Tablets) and every group of trolls you killed for mojo was done in service of Drakuru’s plan to betray the Drakkari Empire to the Lich King. The “cleansing ritual” was never about purifying Drak’Tharon. It was about handing it over.

Drakuru’s foreshadowing has been building since Truce? (“You won’t be livin’ to regret it…”), through Sacrifices Must Be Made (Zim’bo’s warning: “Betrayed by one of our own we were”), to this final reveal. The quest title itself, “Cleansing Drak’Tharon,” is Drakuru’s euphemism for genocide.

The reward item names all reference temptation and manipulation: Shroud of Temptation, Enticing Sabatons, Shackles of Dark Whispers, Shoulders of the Seducer. You were seduced. You were shackled by whispers. You wore the shroud of temptation the entire chain.

The Lich King’s appearance here is one of WotLK’s signature moments. He shows up personally to promote a troll traitor, physically transforms him with Scourge magic, and casually threatens him before departing. It sets the tone for how Arthas operates: rewarding useful betrayal while making clear that failure means death.

Cross-Expansion Connections

• Zul’Drak continuation: The story picks up at Ebon Watch when you loot an Unliving Choker from Withered Trolls near Zeramas. Stefan Vadu of the Knights of the Ebon Blade sends you undercover into Drakuru’s necropolis, Voltarus, using disguises. The infiltration leads to the quest Betrayal, where you expose Drakuru and the Lich King kills him personally: “I spare your insignificant life as a reward for this amusing betrayal.”
• Achievement: Completing both Cleansing Drak’Tharon AND Betrayal awards Guru of Drakuru. This is one of WotLK’s most satisfying achievement completions because the storyline is so cohesive.
• Drakuru is permanently dead. No later expansion resurrects or references him. His arc is complete.
• Hearthstone: Drakuru appears as a legendary shaman minion in the March of the Lich King expansion.

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.