Mission map is here. Go forwards, then take a left to start up a short, winding path. There will soon be an opening on your right. You don't need to go in here, but there's a boss in here if you want/need the morale boost. Go up the very steep hill to kill off the last of the minotaurs. From now on, the main mission enemies are almost solely Stone Summit. Well, the basic premise of this mission is that you have to kill off the guys at the catapults (the Engineers again) so Rurik can lead the Ascalonians to safety. Each Engineer you kill also gives you a morale boost. When you eventually come across a closed gate, turn right and kill off the Engineer that's a short ways that way. This will open the gate, which is now behind you and pouring out a mob of Stone Summit, along with a boss. Kill them and go inside. Here, go left and around, then keep going straight when the path splits. You'll shortly come across yet another closed gate. The Engineer you have to kill to open this gate is again to the right, but he's a lot farther than the last one, and is guarded by a group of enemies (he's along the path of red dots on the map that seems to go nowhere. Go back to the gate, kill the mob, and continue onwards. Here you come across a large cave guarded by Ettin. Be very wary of these guys, because they really hit hard. If you're gonna do the bonus, go left the first chance you get and kill off all of the dryders. Just like in the last mission's bonus, make sure you completely heal after each group. Once all the dryders are dead, DO NOT talk to the NPC around here. Go back to the main area of the cave and keep going west. Exit the cave mouth (don't go left, ignore the group out there, just keep going straight). Kill the boss group here. Target any Dolyak Riders first, then any Sages you see. Do not physically attack if you have Empathy cast on you, or you will die in short order. Now, if you're not doing the bonus, skip the next paragraph.

Alright, the reason why I told you not to talk to the NPC inside the cave is because he can die. We're going to clear the way first, then come back to him. From where the boss group was, if you look left you'll see a part where the ground is devoid of snow. Move a little ways forward, then turn right. You can't see it from where you are, but trust me, there's a path here. Follow the path. At the end of the path is a huge mob of crap. They're technically two separate groups, but since they're so close together they often get aggro'd at the same time. This is why talking to Rornak (yes, the NPC in the cave is Rornak, again. He seems to have a knack for getting captured) before would have been a bad idea: the Stone Summit tend to target him, so then he dies and you don't get your bonus. :o( Kill the Dolyaks first! If you don't, either the battle will never end, or you'll get killed by the other stuff here. Once everything around here is dead, go back and find Rornak. After he shuts up, he'll start following you. Take him back to the end of that hidden path we just cleared out and go up to the lever. Rornak proclaims the catapult to be fixed, so... FIRE IT!! AHAHAHA!! You probably can't see it from where you are, but it destroys a gate waaaaaaay over to the east. Go back to the edge of the no-snow area. Bonus isn't done yet, but I hate repeating myself, so...

If you weren't doing the bonus, you'll find an area on your left devoid of snow. Now, all of you (bonus or otherwise), RUN ACROSS THE NO-SNOW AREA AND THE BRIDGE AFTER IT!! Do not stop til after the bridge! There are two siege catapults after the bridge that are firing towards you (which is why there's no snow there). They do some pretty decent damage too, which is why I'm saying don't stop in their range of fire. Rornak stayed behind at the catapult, for those doing the bonus, so you don't have to worry about him anymore. Take out the two catapults, which triggers a gate further back to open and let out a boss and his mob. Be aware that killing the boss, even if you don't kill everybody else in this area, will trigger a cutscene, so if you trigger the scene and want the bonus turn around after the movie and go back. If you've got minions, you'll probably aggro the boss' group whether you mean to or not. In the cutscene Rurik explains what you have to do to complete the rest of this mission. If you're not doing the bonus, skip the next paragraph.

There's another gate in this area that's not the one the boss came out of. It'll have a mob of Ice Elementals right inside of it. There are more Ice Elementals further on, so be really careful around here. They can wreak havoc on lower-level characters. The plans Rornak wants are in the chest in this area (it's simply labeled Chest, so don't confuse it with any random Steel Chests that might be around here). Grab the plans and take them back to Rornak. And then the bonus was ended, woo. Go back through the boss gate to continue the mission.

In the middle of this area you'll find a Gear Lever, which you shoudl use on the lever mechanism to open the gate. ... which takes like two full minutes to open. Feel lucky; it used to be five. Be aware that there's a group of enemies off to your left that somebody might aggro. Pick up the lever and take it with you into the next area. Drop it before getting to the first lever mechanism and proceed to clear the entire area of enemies. Retrieve the lever from where you dropped it and use it on the first lever mechanism. Now, STAY HERE. Wait for the Stone Summit to appear out of the gate the lever just opened. DO NOT ACTIVATE ALL THE LEVER MECHANISMS AT ONCE!! As I just said, each lever opens a gate, and thus you will get mobbed and almost 100% surely die. Take your time, kill off the Stone Summit that appear (don't worry about Rurik even if his health dropping drastically low. I have never seen him die here, although he's given me quite a scare before), then use the lever on the second mechanism, wait for the Stone Summit again, kill them, then activate the third lever. Now you get to kill the stuff that still comes out and keeps coming out until the game decides that you've had enough (it takes awhile sometimes, another two or so minutes) and the mission ends. Dagnar Stonepate rides again! Or, well, actually this is the first time we've see him... I wanna ride a drake too!

Quests: To Kryta: Refugees (primary), Hungry Devourer, The Deserters
Skills: Lightning Strike (ele), Shatter Enchantment (mes), Divine Spirit (monk), Rotting Flesh (necro), Pin Down (ranger), Flurry (warrior), Ice Spear (ele), Inspired Hex (mes), Balthazar's Spirit (monk), Strip Enchantment (necro), Serpent's Quickness (ranger), Bonetti's Defense (warrior)

Oh noes, Rurik died! ... 's about time, I say. He was annoying. ^>__<^! Anyway. Take both quests here, and make sure you DO NOT go out into Lornar's Pass, or you'll get majorly pwnt by lv 22's and 24's. Aha. Well, head out into Deldrimor Bowl (we'll do the primary after we get this other thing out of the way) and go right. Old Mac is just ahead, but I highly suggest not talking to him yet. Keep following the path (ignore the refugee NPC's, they're just cannon fodder) then head right when the path splits. Head north for a bit, then west, then south. You'll see a large group of Succulent Junipers up ahead. KILL THEM ALL!! AHAHAHAH!! *ahem* No, seriously, you need ten of those succulent juniper meats they drop. Map back to Beacon's Perch, go back outside, and now you can talk to Old Mac. Talk to Joe to feed him the juniper meats, talk to Old Mac again, then grab your reward and new skills from Master Saberlin back in town. He also has a new quest for you. If you managed to reach Ice Tooth Cave somehow before now, this quest will be a lot easier, as your targets are almost right outside the portal from Anvil Rock into Deldrimor Bowl. If not, you have to take the long way there (use this region map if you need help finding it) and you'll find the deserters on the way (once you kill the deserters you don't need to go to Ice Tooth Cave, but there's a skill trainer there if you're interested. Recommended skills from that trainer include: Air Attunement (air, but can be acquired from a quest relatively soon enough), Lightning Orb (air, acquired for free on the next walkthrough page), Stone Daggers (earth, spammable earth skill, acquired through a quest relatively soon), Stoning (earth), and Glyph of Elemental Power (no attribute). Cry of Frustration (dom), Empathy (dom, if you're mes primary you should already have this), Drain Enchantment (inspiration), and Power Drain (inspiration). Signet of Devotion (divine, costs no energy), Healing Touch (healing, gotten from a quest much much later in the game), and Protective Spirit (prot, might've mentioned this before, best prot spell ever and you only need four points in prot to have a decent Protective Spirit, acquired for free later on in the game but I highly suggest acquiring it now). Mark of Subversion (blood, good against healer enemies), and Death Nova (death, but can be acquired from a quest later on). Melandru's Assault (beast), Flame Trap (wilderness, good for trappers), and Storm Chaser (wilderness, speed skill, acquired from a quest relatively soon). Dolyak Signet (strength, good for tanking, acquired for free much later in the game), Final Thrust (sword, acquired for free quite soon), and Distracting Blow (no attribute).). Anyway, I'll just skip to the part where you attack them, since once you find the portal, no matter which route you take, your targets will be pretty much right there (on the Deldrimor Bowl side). Anyway, if you're going from Ice Tooth Cave try not to get mobbed by minos, as they hit pretty hard and have really weird patrol routes. Minos and centaurs hate eachother for whatever reason, so use this to your advantage. Shiverpeak Protectors are the centaur healers, in case you haven't noticed yet. Once you find the deserters (which seem to have doubled in number since I last did this quest), target any Monk Deserters first, then kill off the others at your leisure. Once they're dead, don't forget to open the two chests they stole for a chance to grab some free stuff. Return to Beacon's Perch and grab your reward and new skills from Master Saberlin.

So. Time to do the primary, To Kryta: Refugees. Just stick to the left wall of the area at all times, no matter how many twists and turns you take, and you'll eventually find the ranger dude (no, the refugees do not have to survive, so don't worry if they all die) who gives you your EXP and tells you to talk to the guy inside the cave. Zone into the cave (watch out for the ettin, as they hit even harder than minos) and talk to the dude inside, who tells you that the White Mantle have come to help. I suggest you stick with the two or three White Mantle guys that are there, no matter how slow they are, as they can help a lot if you are at a low level. Follow the Marks of Aidan to, well, get to Aidan (you can also follow Snow, Nathaniel's creatively-named snow wolf, but he's not nearly as reliable). Aidan gives you your reward, and a letter to give to some White Mantle chick that informs her that Rurik is dead. Go right and... yeah... from snow to beach in 2.5 seconds...