Mission: Eternal Flame

Quest Giver: Scout Knowles at Ember Spear Tower

Objective: Use the Ever-burning Torches to destroy the four Plague Tanks surrounding Halgrind.

Quick Facts

• Type: Item-use destruction
• Faction: Alliance only
• Provided Item: Ever-burning Torches
• Prerequisite: Report to Scout Knowles
• Parallel Quest: Mission: Package Retrieval

Walkthrough

1. Accept quest from Scout Knowles at Ember Spear Tower [44, 58].
2. Place the Ever-burning Torches on your action bar.
3. Travel to each Plague Tank and use the torches within 20 yards.
4. Destroy all four tanks.
5. Return to Scout Knowles.

Plague Tank Locations

• Southwest Tank: [48, 56] — Near the western edge of Halgrind, closest to Scout Knowles.
• Northwest Tank: [48, 53] — Northeast of the Southwest tank. Watch for patrolling mobs.
• Northeast Tank: [51, 50] — Near the hill on Halgrind’s northern edge.
• Southeast Tank: [52, 58] — Southern outskirts of Halgrind. Higher mob density in this area.

Tips

• Torch Range: The torches work from approximately 20 yards. You don’t need to be right on top of the tanks.
• Avoid Forsaken Plaguebringers: Forsaken Plaguebringers patrol near the tanks spraying plague. They have a large aggro radius and a nasty ranged attack. If you pull one, close to melee range quickly to reduce incoming damage.
• Storm Giant Patrol: A Storm Giant roams the western side near the Southwest and Northwest tanks. Give it wide berth.
• Use Terrain: Find elevated positions to target tanks without pulling nearby mobs. Hills and rocks provide good vantage points.
• Class Escapes: Hunters can Feign Death, Rogues can Vanish, Paladins can Bubble, and Night Elves can Shadowmeld after torching a tank if things get messy.

Efficient Route

Starting from Ember Spear Tower:

1. Head northeast to the Southwest Tank [48, 56] (closest).
2. Continue north to the Northwest Tank [48, 53].
3. Move east to the Northeast Tank [51, 50].
4. Circle south to the Southeast Tank [52, 58].
5. Return west to Scout Knowles.

This creates a rough clockwise loop around Halgrind without backtracking.

Story Context

Scout Knowles explains what he’s observed:

“The Forsaken are up to no good and from what I can tell, those plague tanks of sludge are a big part of it. If I may suggest, sir, we should probably destroy them before they can get any more use out of the things.”

He hands you torches made from the eternally burning branches of Ember Clutch: “I took the liberty of preparing a bundle of torches from the Ember Clutch. These things have been burning for days!”

When you return, Knowles reacts to what you’ve discovered:

“Nice! But what’s this about the stuff you found inside those tanks? Are you saying that the Forsaken are spraying a plague upon the vrykul down there?”

Lore: The New Plague Testing Ground

Halgrind is a vrykul village that the Royal Apothecary Society has turned into a testing ground for their New Plague. The Forsaken from New Agamand are spraying aerosol plague over the vrykul population, trapping them inside and slowly killing them.

This is one of several testing sites in Howling Fjord. The land around New Agamand is visibly dead and brown compared to the surrounding verdant landscape, the result of plague saturation.

Cross-Expansion Connection: The Wrathgate

What you’re witnessing here is early development of the plague that will be deployed at the Battle of Angrathar the Wrathgate, one of WotLK’s most pivotal story moments. Grand Apothecary Putress, working with the dreadlord Varimathras, will betray both factions by launching this plague against Alliance, Horde, and Scourge forces alike.

The Halgrind quests demonstrate that the plague was being tested on living subjects long before Wrathgate. When you later experience the Wrathgate cinematic and see Bolvar Fordragon engulfed in green fire, remember that you saw this weapon in development right here.

Interestingly, Alliance players will accidentally help perfect the plague in a later Westguard quest. Peppy Wrongnozzle, a drunken gnome alchemist trying to create a vaccine, gives you an “antidote” to test on a vrykul prisoner. The prisoner melts into a pile of goo. Peppy’s drunken response: “Huh? Well that sucks! Darn, I made thingsh worsh. In fact, I think I perfected their plague for them …hic!”

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