Vereth the Cunning

Quest Giver: Keritose Bloodblade — The Shadow Vault, Icecrown [44, 25]

Objective: Report to Vereth the Cunning on the Rise of Suffering in Icecrown.

Quick Facts

• Prerequisites: Seeds of Chaos and Amidst the Confusion (both required)
• Unlocks: New Recruit, which leads into the Malykriss infiltration chain and eventually the group Rider quests

Walkthrough

Find Vereth the Cunning

• Vereth is located on the Rise of Suffering [53.9, 71.5], which is just to the southeast of Corp’rethar and west of Malykriss’s entrance. He stands at the southern tip of the rise, inside the Court of Bones.
• Fly there directly from the Shadow Vault. The area is hostile Scourge territory, but Vereth himself is on a safe ledge. Keritose warns you to “try not to draw too much attention on your way in.”
• Talk to Vereth to complete the quest.

Efficiency Tips

• This is a simple travel-and-talk quest. The only thing that can trip you up is finding Vereth if you fly to the wrong spot. He’s not inside Malykriss itself; he’s on the Rise of Suffering just west of it. Look for the narrow outcropping at [54, 72].
• After turning in, Vereth immediately offers New Recruit, beginning the Malykriss infiltration chain. This chain progresses through The Vile Hold and a trio of quests (Generosity Abounds, Matchmaker, Stunning View) before culminating in the group Rider quests: The Rider of the Unholy, The Rider of Blood, The Rider of Frost, and The Fate of Bloodbane.

Lore & Secrets

Malykriss and the Lich King’s Grudge

This quest is the bridge between the Weeping Quarry intelligence operation and the Malykriss infiltration. Keritose has pieced together the picture from the documents you recovered in Amidst the Confusion: the Lich King is using the saronite from the Weeping Quarry to build Malykriss, the Vile Hold, a replacement for Acherus: The Ebon Hold.

After the death knights defected at Light’s Hope Chapel, the Lich King lost his primary death knight necropolis. Rather than recapture Acherus, Arthas decided to build a new, stronger fortress and raise an entirely new generation of death knights loyal only to him.

Vereth frames it when you reach him: “The Vile Hold… a testament to how much Arthas hates losing.”

Vereth the Cunning is an Ebon Blade operative already embedded near Malykriss, conducting reconnaissance. Keritose describes him as “one of our best.” His quests involve using mind control, disguises, and sabotage to infiltrate the Vile Hold from within, continuing the Ebon Blade’s signature approach of subterfuge over brute force.

The Bigger Picture

The Malykriss chain is one of the longest and most involved quest arcs in Icecrown. It begins here and eventually leads to group quests against the three Death Knight Riders (Unholy, Blood, and Frost) who command the Lich King’s new death knight order, culminating in a confrontation with Bloodbane himself.

If the Shadow Vault chain is the Ebon Blade’s opening move against the Scourge’s northern operations, the Malykriss chain is their counterstrike against the Lich King’s attempt to replace them.

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