The Sons of Hodir quest chain

The Sons of Hodir quest chain is perhaps the longest continuous quest chain in World of Warcraft. You must complete a large portion of the quest chain to gain access to the Sons of Hodir reputation faction.

To complete even the first quest in this chain, you must either:
 * be level 77 or higher, and obtain a loaned mount from "Honest" Max at K3 in the Storm Peaks.
 * have Cold Weather Flying and a flying mount.

Summary
You start off with the relatively simple task of freeing some prisoners from the hands of the Vrykul women. Getting the last prisoner, Zeev Fizzlespark, brings you into contact with Lok'lira the Crone, who helps you infiltrate with the Hyldnir, in disguise.

After you successfully free Zeev, Lok'lira asks you to continue to gain the trust of the Hyldnir, with the purpose of rousing Thorim from his stupor and ending the war between the Hyldnir and the Sons of Hodir. By competing in various stages of the Hyldsmeet you gain the honour of riding a drake up to the Temple of Storms, where you meet Thorim.

You manage to spur Thorim into action. He sends you out on a mission to regain the trust of the Sons of Hodir. In the process you find and restore his armor. You then help Thorim to get his drake mount, Veranus, back. Finally, Thorim reconciles himself with the Sons of Hodir and he regains his mighty hammer Krolmir.

Time to confront Loken. With Thorim's help you first thin out his minions and defeat three of his lieutenants. But when Thorim takes on Loken himself things end badly and Thorim and his drake are captured. It turns out that once again you have unwittingly been helping the side of evil. You get your own back when the king of the Sons of Hodir sends you to the Halls of Lightning to kill Loken.

An Ambushed Expedition
Arriving at K3 in The Storm Peaks, you find yourself petitioned by a distressed goblin. Gretchen Fizzlespark tells you she was part of an expedition into the mountains that was attacked by odd, blue skinned Vrykul. The Vrykul captured all of the men, but released all of the expedition's women. You agree to get them back.

You fly to Sifreldar Village, and observe the hyldnir there. You find that many of them carry keys to the cages in and around Sifreldar. You kill a few hyldnir for their keys, and liberate the goblins held prisoner. While you're doing this, you remember that Gretchen also mentioned that the Hyldnir also took a fair amount of the expedition equipment. Thoughtfully, you pick up what you can find of it to take back with you.

Reporting back to Gretchen, you discover that you missed one. Specifically, Zeev, Gertchen's brother. Gretchen asks you to look around The Forlorn Mine, since that seems to be where they send a lot of their captives to work.

The crone's bargain
While you don't immediately find Zeev, you do find something else unusual: a female captive. She accosts you, guessing correctly that you are looking for the new prisoner.

She introduces herself as Lok'lira, and offers you a deal: She'll help you get Zeev back, if you help her escape. She intends to put an illusion over you, so that you appear to be one of the Hyldnir. To do that, she needs her set of runes, currently held by one Overseer Syra.

You hold no particular love for the Hyldnir, so it is no great moral quandary to slay Syra and retrieve the runes.


 * ''Upon completing this quest, you are given the seeming of a Hyldnir. The illusion only applies if you are in humanoid form.  Also, NPC Hyldnir in Sifreldar Village, the Forlorn Mine, and Brunnhildar Village who formerly regarded you as  will now be  regardless of whether the illusion currently applies or not.

Lok'lira intends that you ingratiate yourself with the mine supervisor, Mildred the Cruel. You are to 'lend a hand', and do what she asks of you until she trusts you with the keys to Lok'lira's shackles.

Mildred has been expecting a new Overseer (presumably to replace the one you slew earlier). She sets you to administering discipline to the male Vrykul toiling in the mines. Charming. Necessary, though, if you are to free Lok'lira.

If you had any qualms about the last job, you'll be having more bout the next one. Mildred has found the leader of the frykul resistance in the mines: one Garhal. She wants you to slay him in front of the other males, to make a lesson of him.

Your hope of rescuing Zeev rests on freeing Lok'lira, and balking at this point can only look suspicious. You find Garhal only a short distance away, in a stand off between two of his cronies and two guards. You send him to whatever eternal reward he was destined for, and return to Mildred.

Even Mildred (whose own ekename is "the Cruel") acknowledges that you are without mercy. She has found yet another task for you: kill off Lok'lira. Naturally, this involves the shackle keys you've been after all this time.

You quickly take the keys to Lok'lira, and set her free. She's eager to get out of the mines, but you have to leave separately, to avoid suspicion. (You were told to kill her painlessly. She is gone from the mine.  As long as you don't have to show anyone a body, no problem!)

You make your own way to the eastern end of the mine, leading to Brunnhildar Village. There you meet with Lok'lira, who is sporting a look much like your own illusion.

And it seems you've arrived in the nick of time, too. It seems he's about to be spitted by one of the Hyldnir. You challenge her to mortal combat (not uncommon at the Hyldsmeet), and 'win' Zeev's freedom.

The Hyldsmeet: A worthy opponent
It seems that Thorim, a servant of the titans, had been a guardian of Ulduar and the Terrace of the Makers. However, when Loken killed his wife (Sif), he flew into a rage and lashed out at everyone close. This included the Sons of Hodir. The Hyldnir of Brunnhildar Village took their cue from that, resulting in a war between them and the frost giants lasting to this day. Once he recovered from his rage, Thorim sank into depression, and exiled himself to the Temple of Storms.

The Hyldsmeet is a contest to determine who gets to be Thorium's new wife. Lok'lira had come to Brunnhildr Village in an attempt to participate in the Hyldsmeet, and gain access to the Temple, hoping to get Thorim to pay attention to the world again. The Hyldnir took exception to that, and there you are.

You, by killing the Hyldnir threatening Zeev, have automatically entered the Hyldsmeet. You COULD just skip out now, but with the guardian Thorim brooding instead of guarding, taking action sounds a whole lot more useful to you.

Lok'lira directs you to the next round of matches. For that, you need to defeat 6 (other) Victorious Challengers.

The Hyldsmeet: The Bear Pit
For the next step, you'll need a Warbear. Lok'lira directs you to Brijana, just past the east end of Brunnhildar village. Prove yourself to her, and you will be on track to getting a war bear of your own.

You go to Brijana. She does have a task to prove yourself: Ride Icefang down the valley and back, burning Frostworgs and Frost Giants alike.

You prepare yourself, and hop on Icefang's back. He apparently knows where he wants to go, and goes there without your direction. You take advantage of that to inflict pain and suffering among the foes of the Hyldnir. Brijana is satisfied with your performance, but not yet ready to help you get your bear.

Instead, she has another mission for you. The Frost Giants are holding a number of the Hyldnir prisoner, frozen in blocks of ice. This is not a proper end for a warrior! Your task is to free a number of proto-drakes from the chains that hold them, load them up with Brunnhildar prisoners, and return them home.

And isn't that the wild ride? You take your own flying mount out to Dun Niffelem time and again, releasing the shackles on a proto-drake, and directing the drakes to break the ice blocks to free the prisoners. All the while, giants are throwing their clubs at you, forcing you to dodge, weave, duck, and sometimes just take it on the wing. Still, eventually, you've returned a large number of Hyldnir to Brunnhildar.

That, Brijana declares, is a glorious feat! (And rightly so, in your own humble opinion.) She directs you to speak to Astrid Bjornrittar, back in the village, and tell her of your accomplishments.

Astrid, of course, is more than happy to tell you that the reward for a job well done is another job. In this case, that you've got to make a harness before you can ride your bear. And she knows just where to find some hides that will do.

Following her directions, you fly down the cliffs south of Brunnhildar Village and find scattered groups of Yeti. You don't have to kill many to get enough hides, but you do have to watch your step. Fortunately, you don't tumble over the cliffs to an ignominious death.

You give her the hides, and she puts together a harness for you from them.

Now, what you need is the bear itself. Astrid directs you to the Hibernal Cavern, where the Brunnhildar have traditionally gotten their bears (before breeding them in captivity). At the caverns, you will need to find an Icemaw Matriarch. She warns you, though, that the cave has recently been overrun by jormungar, and most of the wild bears have been killed.


 * As an aside, she asks you to kill a number of the Ravenous Jormungar while you're there.

You venture into the caverns. It's nice that Astrid offered you a bounty on the jormungar, as you can barely move without tripping over them. You slaughter your way in to the back of the cave and find one last, Icemaw Matriarch, albeit injured. You harness her up, and head out of there.

Astrid admires your bear, but tells you that you need the skill to ride it, to make it an effective combatant. She directs you to a point in town where Kirgaraak is chained up. Kirgaraak is the largest yeti the Hildnyr have yet captured, and should provide you adequate practice.

You return to Astrid after beating up on the chained yeti, and she declares you ready to face opponents in the Pit of the Fang. At this point in the Hyldsmeet, you have to defeat 6 other warbear riders, to advance to the next stage.

The Pit is an anarchic place, with Hyldnir attacking each other based seemingly on who they were close to. You find that your bear is indeed superior to most of the other bears in the pit, but your bear takes a lot of mauling before you have defeated the 6 opponents required.

The Hyldsmeet: the Drakkensryd
Astrid Bjornrittar congratulates you on your success, and offers to take care of your bear until you return, as you won't need her on the great Drakkensryd. ... assuming you survive the Drakkensryd, as that is a mortal challenge. Astrid tells you to set your affairs in order and say goodbye to your friends, as you will either succeed, or perish.

You think it wise to return to Lok'lira for any parting advice at this point. She is amazed at the speed of your progress. However, the Drakksryd is something that will require a little luck, as well as courage and skill. She attaches a strand of her hair to yours, saying "you cannot fail now". You wonder, for a moment, whether it is knowledge, or wishful thinking.

Your next task is to go to Gretta the Arbiter and declare your readiness to take part in the Drakkensryd. To win, you must defeat 10 Hyldsmeet Drakeriders in flight around the Temple of Storms. The winner lands at the temple and talks to Thorim.

You are handed a harpoon with a chain attached, and set off on a Hyldsmeet Proto-Drake, possibly even one you'd freed earlier. The temple is perhaps the highest point on Azeroth, and a long way up even from the rest of the Storm Peaks. You join the swirling, jostling crowd of drake riders circling the peak, and set about to prove your dominance. One after another, you spear a competitor and use the harpoon's chain to swing to their mount, slaying them in hand-to-hand combat and tossing the body off only to spear another.

At long last, you have risen through the pack, and hook the harpoon around a decorative ornament and swing to the floor of the Temple itself. Now, to face thorim...

Thorim Stirs
Initially, Thorim mistakes you for Sif. He throws it off after a moment, though, and declares that he intends to avenge her. You entice him to tell you what befell Sif. In turn, you describe how Loken now controls Ulduar. He rages some, then recalls his dispair of the time, and what he did. You remind him that he can still fight, and he enlists your help.

First, he asks you to help him make amends to the Sons of Hodir by slaying the fire giant Fjorn and some of his iron giants, at an anvil east of Dun Niffelem. He provides you with a charm that summons Earthen to aid you against the giants in the area.

In the process of dispatching the giants, you find a sizable piece of. It looks interesting, but you would need something hot to work the slag off in order to find out what it is.

One of the nearby fire revenants unwittingly catches your attention. Soon, you've captured a fair number of the revenants, put the metal lump on Fjorn's anvil, and apply the revenants to burning off the slag.

What is left by the revenants is a gleaming lump of. When cool, you examine it and discover one of Thorium's runes shining from beneath the surface. You return to Thorim with the mysterious ore and the news that Fjorn and his giants are dead.


 * Completing this quest, you will be by the Sons of Hodir.

Thorim tells you that the ore is what remains of his armor, cast off in grief at the loss of Sif. He asks you to take the metal to King Jokkum at Dun Niffelem, and plead for the assistance of the Sons of Hodir in reforging the armor.

Kind Jokkum listens to your story and thanks you for having defeated Fjorn. While there are still some ill feelings between him and Thorium (you can't expect one good deed to erase years of bitterness), he will allow his smith, Njormeld, to reforge the armor.

However, Njormeld was sent to recover Fjorn's Anvil, now entirely Fjorn-free. You need to meet him there.

Njormeld agrees that it can be done once the anvil is back in Dun Niffelem. However, the Seething Revenants you used to burn off the slag are still around, and Njormeld asks your help chasing them away to let the anvil cool enough to move. One of the older Ice giants of Dun Niffelem accompanied him to the anvil, and Njormeld thinks it would be a kindness for you to help him do the work.

With Snorri's help (and your guidance), a few well-aimed snowballs send the revenants packing. You give Njormeld the ore and your thanks, and promise to meet him back in Dun Niffelem, when he's done with the armor.

Upon returning to Dun Niffelem, you find Njormeld at the anvil, now installed where he can use it safely. And better, he has the armor ready for you to take back to Thorim. And it's better than it was when new! Njormeld hopes that the armor will remind him of those better days when they stood together.

You return to Thorim, armor in hand, who is amazed at its beauty. He is grateful ... but there's more work to be done.

When he set to brooding, he released his old riding drake, Veranus, back into the wild. He is hoping to recover her despite the odds. He comes up with a plan that will involved Veranus' old nest. She may be a broodmother in name only these days, but he hopes that he can perhaps lure her back to her nest with some eggs 'borrowed' from other nests.

And for that, he needs you to go bring some back. The nests are all over, with nothing more than ravenous baby proto-dragons and the occasional watchful parent to worry about.

A fair few drake-bites later, you return with the eggs. Thorim tells you where to find Veranus' nest, and positions himself for the capture. A bit nervously, you plant your cuckoo's eggs in Veranus' nest, and shortly the old drake herself shows up. Fortunately, your close air support (Thorim) arrives before Veranus can really get lined up on you. Thorim manages to calm her down (a little, anyway), but ... it's going to take more time. Thorim asks you to meet him back at the Temple of Storms.

One last task remains - recovering Thorim's hammer. In his rage, he had thrown it to the earth and walked away. It might have been destroyed, but King Jokkum would be the one who would know, if anyone does. Thorim asks you to return to the king and ask what he knows of it.

You return to Dun Niffelem and talk to King Jokkum. He tells you that while there is much left to be done, mending relations between Thorim and the Sons of Hodir, he can share with you the secret of Krolmir's fate. King Jokkum gives you a ride atop his helm ("Hold on!") to the Thunderfall. There you behold a tableau of dwarves and giants frozen as they fought. King Jokkum reveals that his father's last act was to cast a rune at Krolmir, freezing it in a block of ice, to keep it out of the hands of his foes. The king summons the hammer, and returns it to Thorim.


 * ''Note: prior to patch 3.3.0, the character would have to complete several side quests and/or daily quests to gain the required reputation level. Now, one reaches  with the Sons of Hodir faction by the time one reaches this point in the chain.

Confronting Loken
Thorim asks you to meet him on the Terrace of the Makers. It's a short flight from the Thunderfall.

At Thorim's side, the two of you view a field where Iron Dwarves and sentinels battle Earthen. Thorim asks you to take the and rally the earthen defenders against Loken's forces.

But it's not just the foot soldiers that Thorim wants you to defeat. Loken has dispatched three of his more powerful lieutenants to guide his forces. Thorim asks you to defeat, a Stone giant, , an Air revenant, and , an Iron golem.

Numerous times you have to rally the Earthen to the cause, but you defeat (in detail) the lieutenants, and large portions of the army invading the Terrace.

Finally, Thorim requests you witness - but not participate in - his fight against Loken directly. You fly off to the Temple of Wisdom, and let Thorim know that you are there with him.

Thorim finds Loken seated at the Temple of Wisdom and confronts him. Loken knows what the result of a "fair fight" would be, and disables both Thorim and Veranus by some strange magic. He then summons a pair of Runeforged Servants to carry them off.

Loken turns to you, then, and describes how you were the key to Thorim's defeat - drawing Thorim from the center of his power to where Loken's influence could defeat him. ... how Loken himself, in the guise of Lok'lira the Crone, guided you every step of the way. As a last twist before he teleports away, he thanks you for your invaluable service, sparing your life.

You carry word of Thorim's defeat to. You might be furious at being used by Loken, but the king goes a step further. King Jokkum vows to rip him literally limb from limb. But should you meet Loken before he does, you will earn both Jokkum's gratitude and his blessing by bringing the king.

The Halls of Lightning where Loken dwells also harbors Volkhan, a giant even more formidable than Fjorn, and sworn to the destruction of Dun Niffelem. King Jokkum charges you with defeating him.

You gather friends, and venture into the Halls of Lightning. Many harrowing encounters later, you return with news of the defeat of both Volkhan and Loken.

Rewards
You will gain a good amount of experience (or a gold equivalent instead).

From, you get one of:
 * Gloves of the Servant
 * Rough Climber's Grips
 * Gauntlets of the Windreacher
 * Gauntlets of Vigilance

From, you gain one of:
 * Lightning Infused Mantle
 * Charred Leather Shoulderguards
 * Stormforged Shoulders (quest reward)
 * Pauldrons of Extinguished Hatred
 * Mantle of Volkhan

From, you gain your choice of:
 * Robes of Lightning
 * Hardened Tongue Tunic
 * Lightningbringer's Hauberk
 * Breastplate of Jagged Stone

You also gain several other, albeit, items during the course of the chain.

As well, you will be with the Sons of Hodir.

Quest progression
#
 * 1) * Side quest:
 * 2) * Prerequisite for daily:
 * 3) * Side quest:
 * 4) * Prerequisite for daily:
 * 5) * Prerequisite for daily:
 * 6)  (+28,600 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 7) *Note: The chain continues from a dropped item: Slag Covered Metal (dropped by Stormforged Iron Giants). You should complete this quest before returning to Thorim.
 * 8)  (+28,600 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 9)  (+325 The Sons of Hodir) Mandatory side quest:
 * 10)  (+97 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 11)  (+98 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 12) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 13)  (+455 The Sons of Hodir) Mandatory side quest:
 * 14) * (+325 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 15)  (+325 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 16)  (+97 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 17) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 18)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &
 * 1) * Side quest:
 * 2) * Prerequisite for daily:
 * 3) * Prerequisite for daily:
 * 4)  (+28,600 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 5) *Note: The chain continues from a dropped item: Slag Covered Metal (dropped by Stormforged Iron Giants). You should complete this quest before returning to Thorim.
 * 6)  (+28,600 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 7)  (+325 The Sons of Hodir) Mandatory side quest:
 * 8)  (+97 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 9)  (+98 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 10) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 11)  (+455 The Sons of Hodir) Mandatory side quest:
 * 12) * (+325 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 13)  (+325 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 14)  (+97 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 15) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 16)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &
 * 1) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 2)  (+455 The Sons of Hodir) Mandatory side quest:
 * 3) * (+325 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 4)  (+325 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 5)  (+97 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 6) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 7)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &
 * 1)  (+97 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 2) * Prerequisite for daily: (+455 The Sons of Hodir)
 * 3)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &
 * 1)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &
 * 1)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &
 * 1)  (+650 The Sons of Hodir) &