The Black Knight of Westfall?

Quest Giver: Crusader Rhydalla — Argent Tournament Grounds, Icecrown [75, 22]

Objective: Investigate the Black Knight’s claims by retrieving a Dusty Journal from Moonbrook (Alliance) or Valgan’s Field (Horde), then return to Crusader Rhydalla.

Quick Facts

• Level: 80
• Location: Moonbrook, Westfall (Alliance)/Valgan’s Field, Silverpine Forest (Horde)
• Chain Position: 1 of 6 in the Black Knight investigation chain (expanded to 8 quests in Patch 3.2)
• Unlocks: The Seer’s Crystal, continuing the chain that eventually grants the It’s Just a Flesh Wound achievement and access to the Threat From Above daily quest

Walkthrough

Picking Up the Quest

Crusader Rhydalla stands inside the Argent Pavilion on the southern side of the Argent Tournament Grounds. She becomes available as a quest giver after you complete The Argent Tournament introductory breadcrumb quest.

Rhydalla explains that a mysterious tournament competitor called the Black Knight has aroused suspicion. Every rider scheduled to face him in combat has met an untimely end. He claims a specific hometown, and she wants you to verify his story.

Alliance: Moonbrook, Westfall

• Fly to Sentinel Hill in Westfall and ride southwest to Moonbrook.
• Head to the western part of town. The Cooper home sits between the Deadmines entrance and the town hall on the western side of town.
• The Dusty Journal lies on the ground just inside on the first floor at [42.1, 69.7].
• Loot the journal and return to Crusader Rhydalla.

Horde: Valgan’s Field, Silverpine Forest

• Travel to Silverpine Forest. The fastest route is flying to The Sepulcher and heading northeast, or taking the zeppelin to Tirisfal Glades if you happen to be at Vengeance Landing in Howling Fjord.
• Locate Valgan’s Field, a small farm on the western shore of Lordamere Lake.
• Enter the southern farmhouse. The Dusty Journal is on the first floor, next to the stairs at [53, 28].
• Loot the journal and return to Crusader Rhydalla.

Returning the Journal

Rhydalla reads the evidence and confirms the Black Knight’s story is a sham. However, she urges caution, as the Crusade needs definitive proof tying him to the murdered combatants before confronting him. She asks you to continue investigating.

Efficiency Tips

• This is the only quest in the Black Knight chain that sends you to a faction-specific location outside Northrend. All subsequent quests take place at or near the Argent Tournament Grounds.
• If you are doing Argent Tournament dailies like The Edge of Winter (which sends you to Howling Fjord), Horde players can conveniently chain this by taking the zeppelin from Vengeance Landing to Tirisfal Glades, riding into Silverpine, then hearthing back to Dalaran.
• Alliance players with their hearthstone set to Dalaran should fly to Sentinel Hill, grab the journal quickly, and hearth back. The round trip takes only a few minutes.
• Some have reported being unable to loot the journal while in a raid group. If the book appears but is not interactive, leave any raid group before attempting to loot it.
• The rest of the chain can be progressed immediately up through The Black Knight’s Orders, but The Black Knight’s Fall requires reaching the rank of Champion in the Argent Tournament. Plan accordingly if you are still working through Aspirant or Valiant dailies.
• These quests do not count toward the Icecrown: The Final Goal zone achievement.

Lore & Secrets

The Black Knight’s Infiltration

The Black Knight entered the Argent Tournament under a false identity, posing as a legitimate competitor. His true purpose was to assassinate the champions and leadership being assembled for the assault on Icecrown Citadel, sabotaging the Argent Crusade’s army before it could ever take the field.

The Coopers were barrel-makers, not gentry, so the Black Knight borrowed the name of a dead tradesman’s family rather than inventing a noble one. That is why nobody thought to check it.

The Dusty Journal you recover disproves his claimed backstory, but it takes several more quests to gather enough evidence to expose him publicly. 

The Black Knight is later revealed to be connected to the Cult of the Damned, serving the Lich King’s interests even within the Argent Crusade’s own stronghold.

Easter Eggs

• Monty Python and the Holy Grail: The entire Black Knight character is a reference to the Black Knight scene from the 1975 film. In the movie, the Black Knight refuses to acknowledge defeat even after having his limbs severed, insisting each wound is “just a flesh wound.” In WoW, the Black Knight refuses to stay dead: you defeat him in the quest chain, he is resurrected by the Cult of the Damned, and he appears again as the final boss of Trial of the Champion, where he rises through three phases (living, skeleton, ghost). The achievement for completing the quest chain is fittingly named It’s Just a Flesh Wound.
• “Dead Men Tell No Tales”: The third quest in this chain, The Stories Dead Men Tell, inverts the classic pirate phrase “Dead men tell no tales,” most famously associated with the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland (and later the film franchise). In this quest, the dead men literally do tell their stories through a seer’s crystal.

Cross-Expansion Connections

Crusader Rhydalla in Later Expansions

• Legion: After Tirion Fordring fell during the assault on the Broken Shore, Rhydalla joined the reformed Silver Hand and relocated to the Sanctum of Light beneath Light’s Hope Chapel. She later traveled to Deliverance Point on the Broken Shore as part of the ongoing Legionfall campaign.
• Shadowlands: During the Death Rising pre-launch event, Rhydalla returned to the Argent Tournament Grounds to defend the chapel against the Mawsworn’s assault on Icecrown.

The Black Knight’s Fate

• The Black Knight is ultimately destroyed in Trial of the Champion, progressing through three phases (death knight abilities, skeleton form with Army of the Dead, and finally a ghost) before being permanently defeated. He is voiced by Matthew Mercer.
• In Patch 3.2, the quest chain was extended with two additional quests (The Black Knight’s Curse and The Black Knight’s Fate) that bridge the gap between his defeat in the quest chain and his reappearance as a dungeon boss, revealing the Cult of the Damned’s role in resurrecting him.

Full Black Knight Quest Chain

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