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
“You’ve been very fortunate, sister. This is a matriarch the likes of which hasn’t been seen in years. A good bear won’t do you much good without the skill to ride it. I’m going to have you practice some moves on Kirgaraak. He’s the largest yeti we’ve ever managed to capture so be careful.
Don’t be afraid to walk away if he gives you a beating… there’s a reason why we keep him chained.”
-Astrid Bjornrittar
Astrid Bjornrittar in Brunnhildar Village wants you to use the Reins of the Warbear Matriarch to defeat Kirgaraak.
Provided item:
Quest Giver: Astrid Bjornrittar — Brunnhildar Village, Storm Peaks [49, 71]
Objective: Use the Reins of the Warbear Matriarch to mount your bear and defeat Kirgaraak in Brunnhildar Village.
Quick Facts
Walkthrough
Summoning the Bear
| Button | Ability | Effect | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auto-Attack | Melee swings | Must be manually enabled (right-click or /startattack) |
| 4 | Maul | ~1,000 damage per hit | Primary damage; spam between other cooldowns |
| 5 | Smash | Knockback | Creates distance; use right before Charge comes off cooldown |
| 6 | Charge | Gap closer + stun | Opener and follow-up after every Smash knockback |
Finding Kirgaraak
Combat Rotation
Avoiding the Reset
If Your Bear Dies
Known Bugs
Lore Context
Astrid is testing whether you can actually fight from bearback, not just ride. Kirgaraak is the Hyldnir’s captive training dummy: “He’s the largest yeti we’ve ever managed to capture, so be careful. Don’t be afraid to walk away if he gives you a beating… there’s a reason why we keep him chained.”
This is your first real mounted combat, and it serves as practice for the bear arena fights in Into the Pit.
The Reins of the Warbear Matriarch are yours permanently after this quest. You’ll use them for Into the Pit (which becomes a daily) and later stages of the Hyldsmeet.
Astrid’s turn-in dialogue is a fan favorite: “Not bad. I was hoping Kirgaraak would snap your neck so I could keep your bear. Just joking, sister. Well… half-joking. That’s a really nice bear you’ve got.”
Explore the Storm Peaks’ hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Storm Peaks Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.
You will be able to choose one of these rewards:
You will also receive:
Upon completion of this quest you will gain:
Vikstone's War Journal“You’ve been very fortunate, sister,” Astrid said. “This is a matriarch the likes of which hasn’t been seen in years. A good bear won’t do you much good without the skill to ride it. I’m going to have you practice some moves on Kirgaraak. He’s the largest yeti we’ve ever managed to capture so be careful.”
Then, and this was new: “Don’t be afraid to walk away if he gives you a beating… there’s a reason why we keep him chained.”
Kirgaraak stood in the Pit of the Fang between two pillars with links on him thick as my wrist. The fur across his shoulders had gone stiff and dark from something old that nobody had bothered to wash off.
The matriarch went tight underneath me before the chains were all the way off. She had been lying on her side in a cave days earlier with her ribs showing through.
She had a charge in her, and a charge is not a thing a rider steers so much as a thing a rider survives. I got her pointed and she went, and Kirgaraak came the other way to meet us, and the two of them met hard enough that I lost a stirrup and most of the air I was holding.
After that my work was the harness and the timing. Her maul comes off both forepaws at once, which leaves her wide open in the middle of it, so I learned quickly enough when to hold her and when to turn her loose. He caught her once across the head with a backhand that nearly had me out of the seat. She answered by putting the whole of her weight through him and knocking him off the pillar he had backed against, and after that she was on his throat.
Astrid came down to look at the body, and then at the bear.
“Not bad. I was hoping Kirgaraak would snap your neck so I could keep your bear. Just joking, sister. Well… half-joking. That’s a really nice bear you’ve got.”
Astrid had watched him fight from the saddle and coveted the bear openly, which was as close to approval as the Hyldnir got, and the practice was over now that they were sending him Into the Pit.
