War stories, articles & game guides
Gamer
Tribute
2026
Expeditions,
War Stories &
Culture
War stories, articles & game guides
Gamer
Tribute
2026
Expeditions,
War Stories &
Culture
“Tis a shame we lost two of our best dwarves while uncovering these relics. They sacrificed their lives to keep this information safe.
<Glorenfeld wraps the cipher and tablets in a tattered cloth.>
Take these back to Valgarde. McSorf will know what to do with the find. As for me? I’ll be alright on my own. I’ve gotten this far in one piece!”
-Glorenfeld
You will be able to choose one of these rewards:
You will also receive:
Upon completion of this quest you will gain:
Quest Giver: Glorenfeld at the Utgarde Catacombs entrance
Objective: Deliver Glorenfeld’s Package to Beltrand McSorf at Valgarde Port.
Quick Facts
Walkthrough
Return to Valgarde and find Beltrand McSorf on the docks at Valgarde Port. McSorf is the Explorers’ League dwarf who originally sent you to find his missing team in The Human League.
Deliver the package to complete the quest.
Story Context
Glorenfeld sends you off with characteristic dwarven stoicism:
“‘Tis a shame we lost two of our best dwarves while uncovering these relics. They sacrificed their lives to keep this information safe.”
“<Glorenfeld wraps the cipher and tablets in a tattered cloth.>”
“Take these back to Valgarde. McSorf will know what to do with the find. As for me? I’ll be alright on my own. I’ve gotten this far in one piece!”
The package contains both the Wyrmskull Tablets you collected and the Ancient Cipher recovered from Oluf. Together, these artifacts hold the key to one of Azeroth’s greatest revelations.
McSorf’s completion text delivers the preliminary findings:
“You’re back!”
“Sorting these tablets out is going to take some time. All I can gather from a precursory study is that whatever used to be here was an ancestor of the humans. Those vrykul things probably killed ’em all off.”
“Anyhow, we’ll know more once I get these relics set up.”
The Irony: McSorf has the relationship backwards. The vrykul didn’t kill the humans’ ancestors. The vrykul are the ancestors. Their “malformed” children, born weak and small due to the Curse of Flesh, were the first humans. McSorf’s “precursory study” will eventually lead to this paradigm-shifting discovery, but for now he’s working with incomplete information.
Lore Context: The Explorers’ League Discovery
This quest represents the culmination of a significant archaeological expedition. The Explorers’ League sent four dwarves into Dragonflayer territory:
Two fatalities, as Glorenfeld noted. But the mission succeeded: the tablets and cipher are secured, and the groundwork is laid for understanding humanity’s true origins.
The full revelation unfolds in a separate quest chain at Nifflevar, where players witness King Ymiron‘s decree that all “malformed” vrykul infants be killed. The humans exist only because some vrykul parents defied that order.
Quest Chain: Explorers’ League Investigation
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.
Vikstone's War JournalGlorenfeld wrapped the cipher and tablets in tattered cloth, his movements careful.
“‘Tis a shame we lost two of our best dwarves while uncovering these relics. They sacrificed their lives to keep this information safe.”
Pulroy. Zedd. Their names would go in reports, maybe get carved on a memorial somewhere. The Explorers’ League honored their dead.
“Take these back to Valgarde. McSorf will know what to do with the find.” Glorenfeld straightened. “As for me? I’ll be alright on my own. I’ve gotten this far in one piece!”
I didn’t argue. Some dwarves needed to grieve alone.
Wyrmskull Village still crawled with vrykul, but I moved through the shadows at the edges, carrying the package.
McSorf was waiting when I arrived. “You’re back!” He took the package with trembling hands, unwrapping the tablets.
“Sorting these tablets out is going to take some time. But…” He looked up. “All I can gather from a precursory study is that whatever used to be here was an ancestor of the humans.”
Ancestor of humans?
“Those vrykul things probably killed ’em all off. Anyhow, we’ll know more once I get these relics set up.”
Humans came from vrykul. The enemies we’d been fighting were connected to my allies.
The war just got more complicated.
The dwarves south of the harbor were digging at something the tablets might explain, which is worth a walk down to The Explorers’ League Outpost.
