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Quest

The Hand of Gul'dan

A World of Warcraft quest in Shadowmoon Valley. Facts and objectives from the current retail game data.

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Top Comments

The highest voted Wowhead comments for this page. They are community notes, not TheWoWDB comments.

1
marskid2+134via Wowhead (opens the original comment in a new tab)

The Cipher of Damnation is an extremely long quest line in Shadowmoon Valley. It is a prerequisite for attunement to The Eye in Tempest Keep and Mount Hyjal in Caverns of time.
"*" Indicates quests with rewards.

Quest Line
1[A] - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10680 - "The Hand of Gul'Dan"
1[H] - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10681 - "The Hand of Gul'Dan"
2 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10458 - "Enraged Spirits of Fire and Earth"
3 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10480 - "Enraged Spirits of Water"
4* - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10480 - "Enraged Spirits of Air"
5 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10513 - "Oronok Torn-Heart"
6* - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10514 - "I Was A Lot Of Things..." - Most annoying quest ever implemented in World of Warcraft.
7 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10515 - "A Lesson Learned"
8 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10519 - "The Cipher of Damnation - Truth and History"

At this point, the quests diverge into three separate lines (which can be done in any order) for each of Oronok's three sons who will in turn help you obtain the three Fragments of Damnation.

Quest Line I - First Fragment of Damnation
1 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10521 - "Grom'tor, Son of Oronok"
2 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10522 - "The Cipher of Damnation - Grom'tor's Charge"
3* - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10523 - "The Cipher of Damnation - The First Fragment Recovered"

Quest Line II - Second Fragment of Damnation
1 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10527 "Ar'tor, Son of Oronok"
2 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10528 - "Demonic Crystal Prisons"
3 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10537 - "Lohn'goron, Bow of the Torn-heart"
4 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10540 - "The Cipher of Damnation - Ar'tor's Charge"
5* - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10541 - "The Cipher of Damnation - The Second Fragment Recovered"

Quest Line III - Third Fragment of Damnation
1 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10546 "Borak, Son of Oronok"
2 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10547 - "Of Thistleheads and Eggs..."
3 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10550 - "The Bundle of Bloodthistle"
4 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10570 - "To Catch A Thistlehead"
5 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10576 - "The Shadowmoon Shuffle"
6 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10577 - "What Illidan Wants, Illidan Gets..."
7 - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10578 - "The Cipher of Damnation - Borak's Charge"
8* - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10579 "The Cipher of Damnation - The Third Fragment Recovered"

After completing the quests for the three Fragments of Damnation, the lines converge and you need to kill one last boss.
Final* - http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=10588 - "The Cipher of Damnation"

Rewards:

Everyone gets http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31074 - Fire Resist Neck

Choose one of the following:
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31036 - Caster Staff
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31038 - Healer Staff
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31062 - Paladin/Shaman 2H Axe
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31071 - Tanking 1H Axe
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31072 - Bow
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=31073 - Melee Dagger

After completing the quest, you will get a message in the mail from Khadgar. If you go to Shattrath, he will tell you to talk to A'Dal, who unlocks the the three Trials. These are prerequisites for attunement to The Eye in Tempest Keep and Mount Hyjal in Caverns of time.

3
802086+11via Wowhead (opens the original comment in a new tab)

For those of you who may be at max level and cannot find the quest The Hand of Gul'dan above the head of either Earthmender Splinthoof (Horde) or Earthmender Sophurus (Alliance) you have either already completed the quest or...you may be like me.

After much frustration and over an hour of looking on the internet and flying around Shadowmoon Valley doing random quests it finally occured to me that as I was leveling up I may have started the quest and decided for one reason or another to stop the chain.
Sure enough as I tracked down the quest line NPC's I found Oronok Torn-heart sitting there with a big fat ! sitting above his head. This is what I get for not eating my vegetables.

Here is a list of all the NPC's along the way so you can save some time tracking down your place in the quest chain:
Earthmender Splinthoof (Horde) or Earthmender Sophurus (Alliance)
Earthmender Torlok
Oronok Torn-heart
From here the chain diverts off into 3 paths involving 5 NPC's:
1. Artor, Son of Oronok
1. Spirit of Artor
2. Borak, Son of Oronok
2. Tobias the Filth Gorger
3. Grom'tor, Son of Oronok

I know there are others who had the same problem as me so I hope helps them.

Read all 18 on Wowhead ↗

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Quest facts

LevelLevel 25-30
Quest ID10681

The client quest POI data records no map location for this quest, so no map is shown.

Check whether you have already completed this quest in-game: /run print(C_QuestLog.IsQuestFlaggedCompleted(10681))

Requirements

FactionHorde only

Read from the Blizzard quest API.

Description

The elements need your help, {race}! Shadowmoon Valley has been subject to unspeakable evils. The spirits remain tortured to this day. Many are enraged and unwilling to commune with the Earthen Ring. Help this world heal, friend. Southeast of Shadowmoon Village - in the heart of Shadowmoon Valley - you will find an area known as the Altar of Damnation. Make your way there and speak with Earthmender Torlok.

Related
Experience1,050 XP

Where this quest fits

Other quests with this name

This one: Horde only · Shadowmoon Valley · Level 25-30.

Steps, storylines and map placement from the client’s QuestLine, prerequisite and QuestPOI data; neighbouring quest text is Blizzard’s own (quest API), shortened to its opening sentences.