In Strict Confidence

Quest Giver: Lord-Commander Arete – Death’s Rise, Icecrown [19.5, 48.1]

Objective: Beat information out of Captain Welsington and Captain Hartford at Onslaught Harbor.

Quick Facts

• Type: One-time chain quest
• Location: Onslaught Harbor, Icecrown [~6, 42]
• Chain Position: 2 of 4 in the Onslaught Harbor investigation chain. Preceded by The Grand (Admiral’s) Plan, followed by Second Chances.

Walkthrough

Find and Kill the Captains

Both captains stand alone at the ship’s wheel (aft deck) of their respective ships. No other mobs need to be cleared.

• Captain Welsington: [5.7, 42.0] on the wheel deck of the western ship. Melee fighter who charges in, stuns with Concussion Blow, and lands a Mortal Strike that cuts your healing in half for five seconds. Not dangerous, but do not plan on self-healing through the whole fight.
• Captain Hartford: [7.1, 41.9] on the wheel deck of the eastern ship. Caster who uses Frost Nova and runs. Ranged classes have an easier time; melee may need to chase.

How to Complete

• Just kill them. Despite the quest text saying to “beat information out of them,” there’s no special mechanic. Kill each captain normally, and a text popup with their dying words grants quest credit automatically.
• You do not need to talk to them, use a quest item, or kill them slowly. DPS them down and the information pops up on death.

Captain Welsington’s dying words: He begs for mercy and reveals that Archbishop Landgren must know where the Grand Admiral is hiding.

Captain Hartford’s dying words: He refuses to cooperate, telling you to “go to hell” but not revealing useful intel.

Return to Lord-Commander Arete

• Fly back to Death’s Rise and turn in. Arete reacts to the revelation that the Onslaught has resurrected Archbishop Landgren, setting up the next quest.

Efficiency Tips

• Water-level approach: Fly to the harbor at water level to avoid gryphon rider patrols, then ascend directly to each ship’s aft deck. You can land right next to each captain without pulling anything else.
• Stealth classes can bypass the entire harbor and walk straight to each captain.
• Both captains respawn in about 1 minute, so if something goes wrong, you can try again almost immediately.
• Combine with dailies. If you’re also doing From Their Corpses, Rise!, No Fly Zone, and Intelligence Gathering, knock out the captains while you’re already in the harbor.

Lore & Secrets

The Interrogation Escalation

Arete sent you to “beat information” out of the captains, which is the Ebon Blade’s preferred approach to intelligence work.

Neither captain actually knows where Westwind is hiding, but Welsington’s desperate revelation that Archbishop Landgren has been resurrected provides the critical lead. This sets up Second Chances, where Arete’s methods escalate from beating information out of the living to interrogating the souls of the dead.

Easter Egg

• The quest title “In Strict Confidence” is the name of a German industrial/darkwave band formed in 1992. Given the quest’s dark tone and the Ebon Blade’s gothic aesthetic, this appears to be deliberate.

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