War stories, articles & game guides
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2026
Expeditions,
War Stories &
Culture
War stories, articles & game guides
Gamer
Tribute
2026
Expeditions,
War Stories &
Culture
“These could pierce armor with enough force. We have to find out what they’re made of and what the Lich King intends to do with them. To the east, nestled next to Icecrown Citadel itself, lies Malykriss. From the few reports we have, it’s full of smelting and smithing equipment.
Bring these shards there, and smelt them in one of the open furnaces on the bottom level of Malykriss. Once the metal has been reformed, we can identify it.”
-Crusader Olakin Sainrith
Use the Bag of Jagged Shards near one of the bottom level Malykriss furnaces. Return to Crusader Olakin Sainrith at Blackwatch with the Smelted Metal Bar.
Provided item:
You will be able to choose one of these rewards:
You will also receive:
Upon completion of this quest you will gain:
Quest Giver: Crusader Olakin Sainrith — Blackwatch, Icecrown [35.4, 66.3]
Objective: Use the Bag of Jagged Shards near a bottom-level Malykriss furnace. Return the Smelted Metal Bar to Crusader Olakin Sainrith at Blackwatch.
Quick Facts
Walkthrough
Fly east from Blackwatch to Malykriss: The Vile Hold, the Scourge weapons forge nestled against Icecrown Citadel. Head to the bottom level of the structure.
The furnaces are large pits with yellow/orange tornado-like flame effects spinning above them. There are three furnaces on the lower level and four more higher up. The quest text says “bottom level,” but the most reliably confirmed location is at [58.7, 71.2], the furnace with a ramp leading up to it.
Positioning is critical. Stand at the top of the ramp, directly in front of the furnace (on the side where the DK troops are), facing the flame tornado. Open your bag and use the Bag of Jagged Shards. You’ll receive a Smelted Metal Bar. If nothing happens, adjust your position slightly. Some report needing to stand on the criss-cross grating that appears to be inside the flame itself.
Return the Smelted Metal Bar to Olakin at Blackwatch. He identifies it as raw saronite, confirming that the Lich King is now arming even his lowest-tier forces with it.
Efficiency Tips
Lore & Secrets
Easter Egg: The Wizard of Oz
The quest name “I’m Smelting… Smelting!” is a play on the Wicked Witch of the West’s famous death line from The Wizard of Oz: “I’m melting… melting!” The quest’s flame tornado furnaces even evoke the Kansas tornado imagery from the film.
The Saronite Revelation
This quest resolves the mystery started in Jagged Shards. When you smelt the crude metal fragments and bring the resulting bar to Olakin, he identifies it as raw saronite, the crystallized blood of Yogg-Saron.
His reaction is alarmed: previously, saronite weapons were reserved for the Lich King’s elite chosen (death knights, val’kyr, high-ranking commanders). Finding raw saronite being embedded in disposable ghouls means the Scourge has scaled up its mining operations dramatically.
This connects directly to the Saronite Mines in Ymirheim (where you completed Mind Tricks earlier) and the broader saronite supply chain running from Yogg-Saron’s prison beneath Ulduar through the mines and into the Lich King’s war machine.
The implication: the Lich King is preparing to arm his entire army, not just his elite, with saronite. The follow-up quests target the runesmiths and supply lines to prevent this escalation.
Explore Icecrown’s hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Icecrown Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.
Vikstone's War JournalOlakin turned one of the shards over in an armored fist.
“These could pierce armor with enough force. We have to find out what they’re made of and what the Lich King intends to do with them. To the east, nestled next to Icecrown Citadel itself, lies Malykriss. From the few reports we have, it’s full of smelting and smithing equipment. Bring these shards there, and smelt them in one of the open furnaces on the bottom level of Malykriss. Once the metal has been reformed, we can identify it.”
I spent the better part of a week inside Malykriss with Vereth. I walked it in a stalker’s body, dragged bombs to its atrocities, and killed the three men who taught unholy and frost and blood at its altars. Today I went back in and borrowed the forge.
There are three furnaces on the bottom level. The shards went into one and came out as a single bar. I have carried this material since the Storm Peaks. In the mine under Ymirheim it spoke to me.
“There is no doubt, this is raw saronite. We’ve seen weapons made from it in the hands of the Lich King’s chosen before, but this is the first time it’s been used to arm anything else. The scale of that mining operation must be huge.”
That is the finding, and Olakin understood. Saronite was for the Ymirjar. It was the mark of the ones Arthas inspected and kept, and I spent a month killing them at Ymirheim because they were the best he had.
Now it is being pushed into ghouls, by the handful, in a factory that does not stop.
Saronite in a common ghoul meant somebody in Malykriss was working it at volume, and the men doing that work had names and stations and a shift pattern, which made the next target obvious once Olakin had the bar in his hand, The Runesmiths of Malykriss.
