War stories, articles & game guides
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2026
Expeditions,
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War stories, articles & game guides
Gamer
Tribute
2026
Expeditions,
War Stories &
Culture
“Now that the tunnels have been sealed, our next concern is recovering those who have fallen to the enemy. With any luck, several of our soldiers are still alive and relatively well inside the nerubian cocoons. Free them, Warrior, while you still can!”
-Captain Rupert
Captain Rupert wants you to open the Nerubian Cocoons in Drak’Sotra and return to him once you have freed 3 Captive Footmen.
You will be able to choose one of these rewards:
Upon completion of this quest you will gain:
Quest Giver: Captain Rupert — Drak’Sotra, Zul’Drak [58, 72]
Objective: Open Nerubian Cocoons in Drak’Sotra until you have freed 3x Captive Footman.
Quick Facts
Walkthrough
Head northwest from the Drak’Sotra camp to the ruined buildings around [52, 69]. This is the same area where you sealed nerubian tunnels during Throwing Down. The area is now littered with Nerubian Cocoons, especially inside the buildings.
Attack a cocoon to break it open. Each cocoon contains one of three things, determined randomly when the cocoon spawns:
You need to free 3 Captive Footmen. The success rate is roughly 1 in 3 to 1 in 6 per cocoon. Plan on breaking 10-20 cocoons.
Critical Tips
Lore Context
Rupert’s quest text says “Now that the tunnels have been sealed,” directly referencing the prerequisite quest Throwing Down, where you used grenades to seal Hath’ar nerubian tunnels. This quest is the logical next step: the tunnels are sealed, now rescue the soldiers who were already captured.
Captain Rupert is a Forsaken (undead) captain serving in the Argent Crusade, making him one of the rare undead NPCs working with a predominantly living faction. He runs the incinerating-corpses portion of the Troll Patrol dailies, a darkly appropriate job for an undead soldier.
Rupert reappears in Icecrown Citadel during the Frostwing Halls assault, teleporting in with four other NPCs to support the raid.
There’s a chance Sister Svalna (a val’kyr) kills and raises him as undead to fight against you, meaning he gets raised from the dead twice across his career.
His ICC quote after being re-killed: “It was… a worthy afterlife.”
Explore Zul’Drak’s hidden easter eggs, lore mysteries, and connections across Warcraft history in Vikstone’s Zul’Drak Chronicles, along with the complete quest storyline.
Vikstone's War JournalCaptain Rupert’s orders: “Our next concern is recovering those who have fallen to the enemy. With any luck, several of our soldiers are still alive inside the nerubian cocoons. Free them while you still can!”
Every cocoon held a question, ally or enemy. Living or dead.
First tear of webbing revealed a Drakkari captive who came out swinging. Second held old bones. Third shivered at my touch, good sign. A footman tumbled out gasping, eyes wild until they focused on my tabard.
Fresher silk meant fresher captives. So I followed that trail.
Three footmen recovered. Some cocoons held nothing but corpses, while others held trolls who didn’t survive their rescue attempts.
“These nerubians have taken a heavy toll,” Rupert said when I returned. “Nevertheless, I am grateful for your efforts.”
Tomorrow there’d be more cocoons.
The footmen were safe, and Kolramas had left something worse buried in the ruins. Captain Rupert knew what it was in Pure Evil
