The Etymidian

Quest Giver: Avatar of Freya — Rainspeaker Rapids, Sholazar Basin [64, 49]

Objective: Go through the Waygate in southern Sholazar Basin and find the weapon known as the Etymidian on the other side.

Quick Facts

• Location: Waygate at [40, 83] in southern Sholazar Basin → Shaper’s Terrace, Un’Goro Crater
• Chain Position: 5 of 8 in the Waygate chain (The Lifewarden’s Wrath → Freya’s Pact → The Maker’s Perch → The Maker’s Overlook → The Etymidian → The Activation Rune → Back Through the Waygate → Reclamation)
• Follows: Powering the Waygate – The Maker’s Overlook

Walkthrough

Finding the Waygate

• The Waygate is at [40, 83] in southeastern Sholazar Basin, slightly southeast of the Mosslight Pillar. On the map it appears as a small structure resembling a lowercase “n” or pi symbol.
• No flying mount is required to reach the Waygate itself; it’s at ground level near the entrance to the basin. However, you may need to dismount from a flying mount before the portal will work. If the Waygate doesn’t activate, try approaching on foot or on a ground mount.

Through to Un’Goro Crater

• Stepping into the Waygate teleports you to the Shaper’s Terrace, a titan platform perched on the bluffs above Marshal’s Refuge in Un’Goro Crater. This is a live teleport to the actual zone, not an instanced version.
• The Etymidian is a massive dormant stone colossus on the terrace. Walk up to it and interact with it to turn in the quest. The completion text reads: “As you read the engravings on this stone colossus, you realize that this is the weapon that Freya spoke of.”
• The Etymidian immediately offers the follow-up quest, The Activation Rune, which sends you into the nearby Hall of Repose to kill High Cultist Herenn. Pick it up before doing anything else.

Do NOT Jump Off the Terrace

• The Shaper’s Terrace sits on high cliffs with no easy path back up. If you drop down into Un’Goro, getting back is painful. Your best option is to Hearthstone to Dalaran (or wherever your hearth is set).
• If you don’t have your Hearthstone available, you can climb back up via the mountains near Marshal’s Refuge around [47, 7], but it requires precise mount-jumping and a lot of patience. Results vary. Don’t count on it.
• Alternatively, if you die near the edge of the plateau at approximately [49, 10], you may resurrect at the Shaper’s Terrace spirit healer. This is a known workaround, but risky.

Efficiency Tips

• This is a quick turn-in quest. Walk through the Waygate, interact with the colossus, grab the follow-up. The real work comes in the next quest (The Activation Rune).
• The Waygate remains permanently usable after the questline is complete, providing instant two-way travel between Sholazar Basin and Un’Goro Crater. This makes it a useful shortcut to southern Kalimdor (and from there, Silithus/Ahn’Qiraj) for the rest of the expansion.
• Complete The Activation Rune and Back Through the Waygate before returning to Sholazar. Don’t make the trip twice.

Lore Context

The Waygate has been dormant for seven centuries before this activation. It connects two of the three “cradles of life” created by Keeper Freya, where the titans experimented with life forms before spreading them across Azeroth. The third cradle, the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, is introduced in Mists of Pandaria.

The Etymidian is described as “one of the most destructive forces ever created by the titans,” stored dormant in Un’Goro as a safety measure. You won’t pilot it until the chain’s final quest, Reclamation, where it decimates an entire Scourge army.

The Shaper’s Terrace is where Khaz’goroth, the titan shaper, once stood to oversee experiments. Freya also ran tests here, bringing new creatures to life. The Cult of the Damned has occupied the terrace by the time you arrive, which is why High Cultist Herenn must be dealt with in the next quest.

Cross-Expansion Connections

The Waygate in Hearthstone

• The Waygate appears as a card in the Journey to Un’Goro Hearthstone expansion. The mage quest “Open the Waygate” rewards the Time Warp spell, with flavor text referencing The Rocky Horror Show: “It’s just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right.”

Un’Goro Crater in Cataclysm

• In Cataclysm (patch 4.0.3a), the Shaper’s Terrace becomes accessible from the Un’Goro side through a separate quest involving the Un’Goro Examinant and a titan watcher named Nablya. A second Shaper’s Terrace location is also revealed on Un’Goro’s eastern wall when a cloaking device fails.

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