Stemming the Skeletal Tide

Stemming the Skeletal Tide
Section	Festival Event Quests
Event	Halloween
Required campaigns	Prophecies or Nightfall
Given by	Mad King's Steward in Lion's Arch or Kamadan, Jewel of Istan
Preceded by	Don't Fear the Reapers
Followed by	Every Bit Helps and The Waiting Game
Type	Festival quest
Map(s)
Locations of the Skeletons of Dhuum

Defeat and collect one Skeleton from the Underworld.

Quest information

Objectives

• Enter the Underworld.
• Use the Everlasting Mobstopper to trap the spirit of a weakened Skeleton of Dhuum.
• Bring the Captured Skeleton to the Mad King's steward. [sic]

Reward

• 10,000 Experience
• 2,000 Gold
• 50 Trick-or-Treat Bags
• 1 Passage Scroll to the Underworld

Walkthrough

Unlike the previous quests, you will need to enter the Underworld by the regular means. The character must be Ascended, Weh no Su or have completed Hunted! to be able to enter the Underworld (but see Notes). All foes in the Underworld will return to their regular spawns and patrols. The closest Skeleton of Dhuum can be found immediately at the starting point.

Explore the Underworld until you encounter a Skeleton of Dhuum. After weakening the Skeleton of Dhuum (to approximately 25% health) or simply killing it, double-click on the Everlasting Mobstopper in your inventory to capture it. Dead Skeletons of Dhuum can only be captured while its corpse is still visible. Multiple players are able to capture the same Skeleton of Dhuum. After capturing the Skeleton of Dhuum, you can continue in the Underworld or map travel to the Mad King's Steward for your reward.

Dialogue

Initial dialogue

Mad King's Steward

"Greetings! I'm glad you've returned. I have...curious news from the Mad Realm. His Dreadful Majesty, who is usually ready to believe just about anything, remains obstinate about the possibility of Dhuum's reemergence. The Reapers have sent word that Dhuum's elite skeletal soldiers have been appearing throughout the Underworld in greater and greater numbers. If we could present Mad King Thorn with the remains of one of these minions, he would most likely see the danger on the horizon. Unfortunately, killing them only adds to Dhuum's growing power. If you were instead to weaken one of Dhuum's minions without killing it, you should be able to imprison it within an Everlasting Mobstopper. Return to me quickly with the trapped enemy, and I will place it before my lord."

 Accept: "What could possibly go wrong? I'll do it!"

 Decline: "This sounds like a good way to get killed."

If your character has at least one Everlasting Mobstopper in inventory or your inventory is not full:

Ask: "Use the Everlasting Mobstopper to entrap a weakened minion of Dhuum." [sic] (The following appears in your chat window: "Mad King's Steward hands you an Everlasting Mobstopper.")

If your character does not have a Everlasting Mobstopper in inventory and your inventory is full:

Ask: "Use the Everlasting Mobstopper to entrap a weakened minion of Dhuum.Your [sic] inventory is full. Please make room and speak to me again." (The following appears in your chat window: "Mad King's Steward tries to hand you an Everlasting Mobstopper, but your inventory is full.")

Reward dialogue

Mad King's Steward

"You do come through in a pinch! Now to convince Mad King Thorn and determine how Dhuum's slumber may be extended indefinitely. My thanks, mortal!"

Notes

• The Quest Log displays "Mad King's Steward (Lion's Arch)" even if your character acquired this quest in Kamadan.
• A character that cannot enter the Underworld can still complete this quest as long as another character on the account, that can enter the Underworld, collects and places the Captured Skeletons in storage so the other characters can turn them in.

Bug.If your character has 98 1 or more, you will only be awarded experience and Trick-or-Treat Bags but not any gold. Usually an NPC will not give a quest reward until your character has enough space for the gold and/or items.

Trivia

• This quest was introduced in Halloween 2009 with a reward of 15 Trick-or-Treat Bags, which was increased to 50 in 2010.
• The original dialogue was rewritten in 2010.