Karazhan

Karazhan (a.k.a. Medivh's Tower, Ivory Tower of Karazhan, or Ivory Spire of Karazhan) is an abandoned citadel (or castle) located on a nexus of ley lines in southern Deadwind Pass. The tower is best known for its last known occupant — Medivh, the last Guardian of Tirisfal. After Medivh was killed by Khadgar, Lothar and Garona, the tower sealed itself off from the rest of the world. But recently, Karazhan has reawakened — an evil presence has taken the tower as its own, its halls crawling with spirits and demons, and Medivh's presence is still alive and well, even decades after his death.

Karazhan, as a level 70 ten-man raid instance, was opened in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. The instance is huge, scripted, and non-winged, containing twelve boss encounters, with 22 different NPCs. The bosses Moroes, the Opera Event, The Curator, and the Chess Event must be defeated in order, but all other bosses are optional. Anyone above 80 will find Karazhan easily soloable by Paladins, Druids and Death Knights, save the Opera Event and Chess Event.

General information



 * The first door after the instance gate is locked. It can be opened with (acquired via a quest chain), a rogue, a skeleton key, or a seaforium charge.
 * Killing the Shade of Aran makes a teleport to his room available from Berthold the Doorman.
 * Karazhan has a side entrance. When climbing the tower to the right of the main entrance (across the small creek), the stairs lead to a bridge and to a door which can be unlocked from the inside once the Opera Event has been cleared.
 * Medivh's staff — can be used to teleport players to the front gate of Karazhan.
 * There is a servants' entrance from the mezzanine above the ballroom that leads to the broken stairway. This door must be opened from the stairway side. While this doesn't help for initial clearing, it can later shorten some paths e.g. from the blacksmith to the Curator, or from Nightbane to Berthold (in order to get to Aran).

Vendors and repair

 * , next to Attumen the Huntsman, will repair gear for players who are Honored with Violet Eye. He also sells some epic Blacksmithing recipes (frost resistance gear). Near him is Calliard who wanders around, babbling how evil Midnight and her owner are.
 * Outside of the Gamesman's Hall (before the Chess Event) is Ythyar, a reagent and The Consortium reputation reward vendor, who can repair gear (however it is worthy to note that Ythyar has no faction attached to him, so no reputation discounts are available — whether this is a bug or intentional is unclear).

History


Karazhan is located in Deadwind Pass on the sub-continent of Azeroth in the Eastern Kingdoms. Existing long before Medivh inhabited it, it is unknown who originally built Karazhan or who now resides within its walls. The land it sits on "was similar in shape to a human skull. Many had noted it over the years, though only a few had been sufficiently brave, or powerful, or tactless to mention it to the property's owner".

Karazhan's history begins with an explosion that carved out Deadwind Pass and weakened the fabric of reality in the region. Someone then built the tower, probably to take advantage of this weakened reality and heightened magic. Medivh eventually took up residence there, but mused that the explosion and the construction only happened because he would eventually arrive.

During the First War, the tower was inhabited by Medivh, his steward Moroes, his cook named Cook, and his then-apprentice Khadgar. Garona also resided here as an emissary in the same time of Khadgar's apprenticeship. Sargeras allowed Medivh to freely explore Karazhan. As a result of the region's weakened reality, many strange and disturbing visions lurked within the tower, and Moroes was known for wearing blinders to avoid seeing them. The visions were ultimately ended when most of Karazhan's ambient magical power was absorbed by the resurrected Medivh, reducing it to "a pile of stone in the remote reaches", its power taken to serve the Prophet.

Recently, despite Medivh's absence and the draining of magic, a new power seems to have made its home in Karazhan. The Black Riders of Deadwind Pass, though rarely seen, have a connection to Karazhan. However, no one knows who their master is. One recent sighting is cause for concern &mdash; the Black Riders seek the Scythe of Elune, a powerful artifact with the ability to summon the vile Worgen into this world.

It is believed that all ley lines on Azeroth lead to a location under Karazhan.

Worldofwarcraft.com says the following about Karazhan:

''The decrepit tower of Karazhan once housed one of the greatest powers Azeroth has ever known: the sorcerer Medivh. Since his death, a terrible curse has pervaded the tower and the surrounding lands. The spirits of nobles from nearby Darkshire reportedly walk its halls, suffering a fate worse than death for their curiosity. More dangerous spirits wait within Medivh's study, for it was there that he summoned demonic entities to do his bidding. However, the brave and foolish are still relentlessly drawn to Karazhan, tempted by rumors of unspeakable secrets and powerful treasures. Forge a group of ten stalwart heroes, and journey to the tower in Deadwind Pass &mdash; but be warned that only those who have achieved level 70 should dare enter.''

Contradictions
In The Last Guardian, Karazhan is described as being an isolated tower, no mention of any village around the tower's base. Quite the contrary in fact. Medivh is described as a hermit, rarely taking visitors into Karazhan, yet in World of Warcraft, it seems he held a banquet with many, many guests who, at some point, became undead. It also seems contrary to Medivh's character to have a harem inside Karazhan, yet that's exactly what we find in the Maiden of Virtue's area. We can only assume they were not undead and demons all along. It is possible Prince Malchezaar brought them with him in order to keep Moroes busy and unaware of what was going on, but it seems an odd thing to do. Another possibility is that an unknown tenant of Karazhan, or even the original builder or owner, made use of these features as there is a vision mentioned in the book of drunk people sitting around a table. Also, Karazhan included a bailey which may have had enough room for a small village.

Instance layout


The following is a compilation of areas in Karazhan and the corresponding bosses of the apparent layout of Karazhan.

A teleporter exists in the person of Berthold the Doorman (in the front entrance of Karazhan), which activates after the Shade of Aran is killed. Berthold can port players back up to Aran's room.'''
 * The main entrance
 * The Gatehouse – leads to A1, A2, A3
 * A1: The Livery Stable – Attumen the Huntsman, links to A1+
 * A1+: The Guardhouse and Scullery – links to B2
 * A2: The Servant's Quarters – one of three random animal bosses, leads to B1
 * A3: The Grand Ballroom – leads to B1, B2, and B3
 * B1: The Guest Chambers – the Maiden of Virtue stands watch here
 * B2: The Banquet Hall – Moroes
 * B3: The Opera House – the Opera Event, one of three random stage productions


 * All paths lead into the Broken Stair
 * AA: The Broken Stair – side entrance unlocked by opera event, leads to AA+, BA
 * AA+: The Master's Terrace – One may summon Nightbane should the need arise... (dead end)
 * BA: The Menagerie – The Curator, leads to CA, CB, CC, ??
 * CA: The Repository – Terestian Illhoof
 * CB: The Guardian's Library – Shade of Aran
 * CC: The Celestial Watch – Netherspite
 * ??: The Gamesman's Hall – Chess event, a side event encounter of epic proportions
 * Medivh's Chambers – leads to D
 * D: The Topmost – onward to X
 * X: Netherspace – Prince Malchezaar lurks within


 * Random Servant's Quarters Bosses include three bosses that drop epic-level items that can be worse than virtually any level-70 blue. They follow the pattern of green drops (of the Owl, of the Whale). Useful drops are sparse, but they are epic (they can be disenchanted) and can be sold for a few gold, plus every mob gives normal reputation, which is much considering the low difficulty of that area. The bosses are:
 * Hyakiss the Lurker – spider boss
 * Rokad the Ravager – darkhound boss
 * Shadikith the Glider – bat boss

You do not have to clear the entire quarters for a boss to spawn. It appears that the boss will spawn after a certain number of kills occurs. Look for an emote, such as 'Hyakiss the Lurker emerges from...' The boss can also spawn multiple times if the quarters continue to get cleared. Killing the maiden does not prevent respawns in this room. NOTE: These bosses, if done previous to any real bosses in Karazhan, will not lock you with a raid ID to Karazhan. The main value of this area is that it helps a new raid group build confidence and quickly levels everyone's reputation to honored so that Koren can be used to repair (something you want the whole raid to be able to do).


 * Random Opera House Bosses include:
 * Dorothee, Tito, Roar, Strawman, Tinhead, & The Crone
 * Romulo & Julianne
 * The Big Bad Wolf

To check the week's event without making a real attempt, start it with Barnes, then with one or more people on stage (to die) leave the rest of the raid in the pit below. The person(s) on stage will need to talk to Grandmother to finish starting the Big Bad Wolf, without this person the event can sometimes lock up the doorway and the GMs will not help you. The other two events will engage straight away and the person on stage will die. This can also be accomplished by sending a Hunter to start the event, and then Feign Death once the event is started.

Be aware that the conversations between the stagehands do not contain hints about the upcoming event. They will say "need more paint for the Oz set", even if R&J or Wolf is up for the week.

You must kill Moroes before Barnes will allow you to try the Opera Event.


 * Kings for each side of the Chess event are King Llane piece and Warchief Blackhand piece.


 * How to reach Chess event: After having defeated the Curator, head to the Library, clean your way up the upper part of library until you arrive at Shade door, and continue your way and go down on the first crossroad you encounter.

Built-in zone maps
Karazhan's map was added in patch 4.1.0. It by far and away has the most floors of any instance with seventeen floors (The next highest is Icecrown Citadel with eight, and a few others with seven).

Related quests
For a description of the entire Karazhan quest chain see: Karazhan Quest Progression

Getting opens the following follow-up quests:

(Must be Honored with the Violet Eye)

For the old Serpentshrine Cavern attunement:

Tier 4
Tier 4 parts dropped by The Curator (Glove tokens):

Tier 4 parts dropped by Prince Malchezaar (Helm tokens):

Badges
The bosses of Karazhan used to drop in addition to their normal loot. In Karazhan, all bosses dropped two Badges each, except for the animal bosses (zero), Attumen the Huntsman (one) and Prince Malchezaar (three). Since the chest at the Chess Event also contained two badges, a total of 22 Badges could be obtained from clearing the entire instance. Since Patch 4.0.1, all bosses now award Justice points instead.

Dungeon denizens

 * Arcane guardians
 * Banshees
 * Bats
 * Blue dragon (one, Arcanagos)
 * Bone golems
 * Darkfallen (one, Prince Tenris Mirkblood, only during the pre-Wotlk event)
 * Darkhounds
 * Death knight (one, Attumen the Huntsman)
 * Doomguards
 * Dreadsteed (one, Midnight)
 * Emberwyrm (one, Nightbane)
 * Eredar (one, Prince Malchezaar)
 * Ethereals
 * Fleshbeasts
 * Forsaken
 * Ghosts
 * Grells
 * Harvest golems (one, Strawman)
 * Horses
 * Humans
 * Medivh
 * Imps
 * Arcane wraiths
 * Mana surges
 * Mana wyrms
 * Nether dragon (one, Netherspite)
 * Orcs
 * Rats (critters)
 * Satyrs (one, Terestian Illhoof)
 * Skeletal gryphons
 * Skeletal horses
 * Skeletal mages
 * Skeletons
 * Sparks
 * Spiders
 * Succubi
 * Titan (one, Maiden of Virtue)
 * Trolls (one, The Crone)
 * Water elementals
 * Wisps (only during the pre-Wotlk event)
 * Wolves
 * Worgen (one, The Big Bad Wolf)
 * Wraiths

Trivia



 * There was some discussion as to who is the final boss of Karazhan, Prince Malchezaar or Nightbane. The Prince drops higher level loot (125 vs. 115) and yields three heroic tokens, the most in the entire instance. On the other hand, Nightbane drops the SSC attunement quest item. The difficulty of the two fights is very similar. With the release of the achievements system, Prince Malchezaar is listed as the boss required for the Karazhan achievement, which is evidence that Blizzard considers him the final boss of the raid instance.
 * In the Opera House, certain mobs will have a spotlight effect, increasing your damage while in the spotlight (for friend and foe) by 20%. On these mobs, it's considered a good strategy for tanks to move the mob out, and run into the spotlight. "stealing the spotlight"
 * In the Opera House, you will meet Barnes the Stage Manager on the stage, addressing his ghostly audience. Barnes will then announce the night's presentation. One of three (currently) boss presentations will appear, each based on famous stories or tales. "Tonight, things are not what they seem, for tonight, your eyes may not be trusted."
 * The Little Red Riding Hood - Starring the hungry Wolf himself.
 * The Wizard of Oz - Starring Dorothee and her dog Tito, Tinhead, Strawman, the lion Roar, and the evil Crone that tries to stop them on their way home!
 * Romulo and Julianne - A tale of forbidden love...
 * After defeating Moroes, and all mobs up to the Opera Event, a mage could use Invisibility to stealth past everything to get up there and see what this is.
 * When Karazhan was first announced, there were rumors that an upside-down version of the tower existed, extending down from the bottom floor, deep underground. Whether or not Blizzard actually plans to implement this "Lower Karazhan" remains unknown.
 * It is likely that this is a reference to The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb, a novel which details the last weeks of (living) activity within the tower. Several references are made to an "inverse" of Karazhan which begins at the lowest level and works its way downward, with Medivh's secret chambers lying at the very bottom.
 * It is also possible that this rumor was a nod to the Konami game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, wherein players could fight through an upside-down version of Dracula's Castle after completing the regular version.
 * There exists a building behind the nearby graveyard in which there is a stair downward towards a locked gate. One could (but no longer) go through this gate as a ghost and explore the large area beyond. This is likely to play a part in the future of Karazhan.
 * Karazhan could be based on The Dark Tower from the Stephen King novels.
 * In the first room in the Guest Rooms there is a bed with two skeletons lying in it. Dead roses lay between them, and one has a knife stuck in it, while the other is holding a bottle. This is a reference to Romeo and Juliet.
 * A curious easter egg is hidden below the tower outside the instance. If you can get under it, you can find a Smiley face on the ground.

Karazhan gryphon roost
The Karazhan gryphon roost is left over from the planning phase of Karazhan. Before the teleport to Aran's room was implemented, the original plan was to have a flight path that connected to the top of Karazhan for the convenience of groups who had already cleared most of the instance. With the release of Cataclysm, the ledge is still there, along with the gryphon nests. The portal, however, still is blocked.