Aerbax's Prodigal Shadow

Quest Summary
Quest type	Group
XP Reward	10% level
XP Cap	??
Item Reward	Aegis of the Golden Flame
Title Reward	Prodigal Shadow Slayer
Starting location	Singularity Caul
Timer	13 Days
Level Restrictions	140+
Level Suggestions	140+
Introduced in:	Dark Materials

Walkthrough

1. Everyone needs a Pulsating Bony Lump from the bottom of the Artifex Collegium at 91.9S 93.7W. The lump protects you from a trap for two hours after handing it in, after which you'll need another one to get through the final portal. If you have time, get two, if you die before getting to the final portal you will need another lump.
2. Find a randomly spawning Orphanage portal on Singularity Caul. To get to the bottom requires getting a Pandemic key, start by going east from the drop and pulling the middle of the three levers on the east side. (If you are leading the quest it can save time by getting one or more Pandemic keys ahead of time.) Go SE from the main room and up to the door opened by the lever and pick up a Wretched Key. Go NW from the main room and open the door to get the Depraved Key, back to the SW to get the Abyssal Key, and finally NW again for the Pandemic Key. Go down the SW tunnel and there will four locked doors surrounding a pit, open any one of them using the Pandemic key and jump down three times. At the bottom run north and hook around into a large room, take either the west or the east passages out of the room to go up and south to the room with the exit portal.
3. Be careful to warn your group not to go to the red statue in the north room. The statue you want is black and is in the same room as the exit portal, a Statue of Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer. Everyone hands their lump to the statue to be portaled to the Orphanage Wing. Do not try clicking on or using the statue, it will just give 5% vita.
4. From the drop, head north and stick to the left until you have passed through two rooms, then at the next intersection go right. Go straight through two branching 3 way intersections and go left at the Y intersection. Take the next right and you will eventually come to a portal, go right inside. Going through it flags you for two hours of access to the Prodigal Shadow Child's Lair. If you die you can return rapidly by using the statue just north of the drop on Singularity Caul (using the statue after the two hours has expired will summon several high level shadows).
5. On the north side of the room is the prodigal shadow child, Kirienne Palacost, in a protective bubble. Kill each spawn in order to cause two protectors to eventually spawn (A Shadow of Ler Rhan and A Shadow of Black Ferah, along with Black Flames). Once they have been killed the bubble will go away and you can kill Kirienne Palacost. This room is very dangerous with lots of war, dispelling of buffs, hecatombs, etc. Be prepared with lots of items you can turn in to drop vita so you can quickly return to the fight. Once dead, everyone loots a Scrap of Shadow Essence (13 day timer).
6. Clear bodies before respawn and take the Scrap to Riordin Nightbane in Wai Jhou (61.9S 51.4W) for the xp, title, and shield reward.

Note: There are 12 lore items available. The Pulsating Bony Lump and Message to the Shadow Artifex are found in the Artifex Collegium. The Fleshy, Amorphous, Pulsing, Oozing, Throbbing, Sticky, and Shriveled Lumps and the Aerbax's Message, Obsidan and Misty Message Shards are found in a side room of the Orphanage Wing. The lumps can be translated by Bretself in Cragstone (26.0N 47.0E). The shards can be translated by Diyas al-Yat in Zaikhal (13.8N 0.1E).

Items

• Aegis of the Golden Flame

Lore & Dialog

You give Statue of Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer Pulsating Bony Lump.
As you fit the lump into the keyhole, you feel a bone-numbing chill pass through your very soul. A pulling sensation forms in the core of your being, but before it becomes unbearable, you see the "key" shrivel and die. Almost immediately thereafter, the chill fades and then you feel a familiar pulling sensation.

---

As Ler Rhan falls, you hear a soft, contemptuous voice declare, "You may've shattered his echo of my true self, but you have not defeated me, nor my children. We will return."

As Black Ferah falls, you hear a cold, contemptuous voice declare, "Pathetic wretch, you have but slain a small sending of my true self!"

---

You give Riordin Nightbane Scrap of Shadow Essence.
Riordin Nightbane tells you, "Once again, you have stepped up where few others would and protected Dereth from the rise of a creature who could spell the end of all of us. Please, accept these rewards."
You've earned 99,078,619 experience. (Level 275)
Riordin Nightbane gives you Aegis of the Golden Flame.
Riordin Nightbane tells you, "Remember, the Aegis I have given you is a rare symbol amongst our Order, and that to carry and display one is considered a great honor."

---