ARoP23 - Journey to The Rift: The Sleeper

Quest type:	Errand
From NPC(s):	V'Tieru the Gatekeeper
Required adventure school:	Dragon Adventurer (level: 100)
Required race(s):	Dragon
Locations:	Dralk
Previous quest(s):	ARoP22 - Ritual of Journey: Stars of Attunement
Next quest(s):	ARoP24 - Retribution: Seek the Guardians
View this quest in the Quest Tree

The next step in your quest to become an Ancient Dragon takes you into The Rift to speak to The Sleeper.

Quest Text

V'Tieru tells you, When you completed your Ritual of Journey and reached the Statue of Drulkar, you were given a new ability, Focus of Spirit. This ability allows you to call forth your spirit and leave your physical self behind. We will protect your physical form until you return to us. The council sends you forth with its blessing, champion of dragons! May you represent us well in this task Drulkar has set before you.

V'Tieru tells you, We still cannot say exactly what you must do within the Rift, except that the Sleeper himself awaits you. Once you pass this portal, you must find the Sleeper and seek guidance from him. He will instruct you further in the will of Drulkar, and the nature of the danger you face. Tary no longer <player>! Focus yourself and enter your spirit form then enter the Rift. We have given you our blessing, now go!

---

Sleeper tells you, Ye may call me Sleeper, for if e'er I hath another name, I hath forgotten it across the centuries.

Sleeper tells you, Aye, I am indeed that old. In many ways I am similar to thyself, though not gifted in the sense thou art; mine life is beholden to the survival of Istaria itself.

Sleeper tells you, Nay, I didst love Istaria. If Drulkar wert the First Dragon, then I wert the second, interpret that however thou mayest; it is the essence of truth. E'er I fought for the welfare of that beautiful world, though thou wilt find no reckoning of me in any scroll of history, for my battles took place before thy reckoning of time.

Sleeper tells you, Many years I protected our world with tooth, claw, and primal magic. But I couldst not continue to fight forever.

Sleeper tells you, Think you; doth my age imply that I be not mortal? Nay, thence lays a different matter.

For if the First Dragon wert a God, the second began as naught but an ordinary dragon. Yet it wert given me, and life's end, to continue to watch over Istaria as long as she shouldst prosper. At a time of great need, to awaken, and protect her once more. And until the last breath shouldst pass and life end upon our world, to remain with the land I still love. Mayhaps the name of Watcher wert a more proper appellation.

Sleeper tells you, Atop the Peak of Storms I slept, ever wakeful. A statue of living stone, but waiting upon the dire hour, whence wouldst come the utmost need. An eon passed, and Istaria remained safe, and prospered.

Then the wars of man came.

Sleeper tells you, Even then Istaria faced no great peril from the likes of those who warred ceaselessly in vain. Her dragonkin wert not threatened, and thus I couldst not act, nor wished to. And so he caught me sleeping. I shall name him, for he is the danger thou must face.

He is Elial, bearer of the accursed Riftrender.

Sleeper tells you, No more than a man, and yet, a man with a terrible gift. Didst the sorcerer know when he parted with that blade, the manner of the man he gifted by it? What a weapon to pass on so blithely, to one as insidiously evil as he. The Riftrender knew the craft of opening to this very realm, a sword of the void. Nay, I hath heard the legends, for while I am bound within this realm, my heart hath not strayed. Elial's sword wert not an unstoppable force as thou hath been schooled, but its power was sufficient to consign us both to this eternal darkness.

Sleeper tells you, He who smote me with Riftrender, fractured the spell which didst hold me in slumber. We found ourselves here. Torn from my world by forces I knew naught of, awoken with the blinding pain of a cut hewn by the blade itself, I couldst not, but that he wert mine enemy and the one who brought me here. I slew him in my grief and madness. His remains I left sundered, and wandered off to nurse my wound in bleak despair.

I killed him, but Elial didst not perish.

Sleeper tells you, A necromancer made the blade, and a full reckoning of its powers remains untold. It certainly protected Elial from the hell he so richly deserved, pawn of evil that wert he. His spirit remained. Woe that I didst not realize this at the time; for until my wound began to fester, I thought naught but him dead! When healing didst not evince itself, a suspicion grew in my mind, and I searched out his remains.

Sleeper tells you, They wert not whence I left them, <player>! No sign remained! Frantically I searched, but Elial had outsmarted me. They remained hidden, and whilst I grew weaker from my wound he fed off me to increase his power.

Sleeper tells you, The sword is the key, <player>. It is Riftrender that hast drained me of almost all my strength. Leaving me scant able to plea to the Dragon Lord for help! And for centuries I could not! He wert too strong for me, the wound he cut his shackle upon my spirit. But recently he hast grown too bold, and opened a portal to the Prime in haste... but nay, I hath not told you of his plans. They are known to me, as surely as this wound binds my power to him. Hear then, his evil designs.

Sleeper tells you, Elial hast corrupted the spirits of this realm, spirits of the unjust dead, those who died violently before their time, the un-avenged. He is evil, but subtle, and hath great powers of persuasion. He hast promised any who aid him a return to the realm of the Prime, to Istaria! To some he promises vengeance, to others simple power and rule over others suffices to gain their loyalty. His army waxes stronger with each passing hour.

Sleeper tells you, They guard his remains now against any who mayest challenge him, even here, whilst he marshals his forces and stores his power to open a portal to our world. He stands ready to command an army of spirits, with the power of the necromancer's blade and mine own magic, in conquest of Istaria. And I fear that he wilt not stop there. He wilt challenge the gods themselves if given but a chance. Thee must stop him! Now is the time!

Sleeper tells you, Not long ago I felt his control weaken; a large portion of his power suddenly spent. He hast already opened a portal to our world, but too soon, before he wert fully prepared. He lacked the strength to return to Istaria. And yet the small taste he received, walking in spirit form upon the mount whence he made that fatal stroke, so seduced him as to expend considerable energies simply to keep the portal open. He wanders still, as a spirit, upon the Peak of Storms.

Sleeper tells you, Thee hast heard of this? Ah nay, the Elial ye know is naught but a pale shade of his true power within this realm. Whither or nay, he hath betrayed himself with this rash drain upon his energies, for I wert then able to call upon the Dragon Lord, and Drulkar hast sent thee to help. And Elial is vulnerable to thee.

Sleeper tells you, Seek out the spirits Elial hast corrupted. Slay the Guardians of heart, mind, soul, and body. Carry his remains to very portal he hast opened, for when he senses that you are in possession of his mortal being, he wilt come quickly to face thee. He doth not desire to re-enter the Prime un-restored and walk Istaria as a mere spirit! He seeks reanimation, and therein lay thy power over him.

Sleeper tells you, He wilt surely come the moment ye hath placed his remains at the foot of the portal.

Prepare thyself well, and triumph ye shall. Banish his spirit and return with Riftrender to me, and I wilt work my magics upon the blade. Though I fear the power of the Elial hast grown too great, together we can forestall him for a while, we must keep vigil, until his threat is ended.

Go now! Cleanse the Guardians with thy fire, and purge the Void of Elial's Ghost!

Sleeper tells you, Each of the Guardians resides somewhere within The Rift. And each was carefully chose by Elial for their particular vulnerability. Korgaern is Guardian of the Blood for he seeks power. Shre Akana is Guardian of the Heart because his heart was wrenched from him. Fergul, the Guardian of the Bones, seeks victory in all battles. Kartarn's mind is so filled with thoughts of revenge which Elial promised him that he has been made Guardian of the Bones. You must find each and defeat them, convince them to release to you that which they guard.

Steps

• The Sleeper Speaks...Listen to the whole of his story.
  • From the pad, take a left. Follow this road to the fork, then take a right. Take a left at the next fork, then a left again. At the next fork, take a right this time. At the final fork, you can go either way. Left requires you to glide to the lower path, which is tricky, but saves time. The right fork takes a longer, but safer, way around. If you go right, take a left at that fork.