Matchmaker

Quest Giver: Vereth the Cunning — Rise of Suffering, Icecrown [54, 72]

Objective: Use a Lithe Stalker to throw rocks at Umbral Brutes as they near lesser undead in Malykriss. Start 5 fights.

Quick Facts

• Do Alongside: Generosity Abounds and Stunning View (all three share the Lithe Stalker vehicle inside Malykriss)
• Unlocks: Completing all three Malykriss quests opens the group Rider quests

Walkthrough

Possess the Lithe Stalker

• Use the Eye of Dominion behind Vereth to take control of the Lithe Stalker. Accept all three Malykriss quests before possessing.

Provoke Fights

• Head into Malykriss and look for Umbral Brutes patrolling near lesser undead (skeletons, ghouls, and similar minions). The runeforging camp area is an ideal location for this.
• When a Brute is near lesser undead, use Throw Rock (button 4) to hit the Brute. The rock irritates it enough to lash out at the nearest lesser undead, starting a fight.
• You need to provoke 5 fights total.
• The Brute needs to be near a lesser undead when you throw the rock. If there are no lesser undead nearby, the rock won’t trigger a fight. Wait for a Brute to patrol near a group of workers before throwing.

Tips

• Throw Rock does minor damage and does not draw aggro to your stalker, so you can safely spam it without getting detected.
• If a Brute doesn’t respond to your rock, it may already be tagged by another player’s attempt or bugged. Move to a different Brute.
• If Throw Rock stops working entirely, exit the vehicle and re-possess the stalker via the Eye of Dominion to reset.
• Work on Generosity Abounds (bomb deliveries) and Stunning View (Heave gargoyles) simultaneously as you move through Malykriss.
• Exit the vehicle when done to teleport back to Vereth.

Lore Context

This quest exploits a fascinating piece of Scourge sociology. The Umbral Brutes are vargul, vrykul who failed the Lich King’s ascension trials in Jotunheim and were raised as lesser undead. Unlike mindless skeletons and ghouls, vargul still retain enough of their minds to resent their situation.

As Vereth explains: “Never will a vargul be pleased to be working aside skeletons or ghouls.” They consider themselves above such lowly company.

By throwing a rock at a Brute while it’s near these lesser undead, you provoke the simmering resentment into open violence. The Brute assumes one of the lesser undead hit it and retaliates. Vereth’s summary: “No need to sacrifice our own men when they are this easily manipulated.”

Like the other two Malykriss sabotage quests, the goal is to disrupt operations and force the death knight commanders to come down from their positions to restore order, setting up the Rider confrontations.

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