Key Quest Guide

Karazhan

Karazhan is an ancient and peculiar ivory tower in the southern part of the Deadwind Pass, east of Duskwood. This ten-man instance has many interesting features, but before you can wander its halls, you'll first need a key.

The key to Karazhan is known as the Master's Key^AHTW. Unlike many instances, it's not enough for one person to hold the key: every single raider will need their own Master's Key to enter the instance. This guide will lead you through the steps involved in getting your own Master's Key to Karazhan.

To get the key, you'll first need to help Khadgar reassemble his apprentice's key to the tower. Then, you'll need to convince Khadgar's old master Medivh to exhange that Apprentice's Key^AHT for the true Master's Key.

So, there are two main strands to this story. One involves acquiring the necessary parts for Khadgar to reconstruct his apprentice's key. The second is a bit more involved, because Medivh is dead. As Khadgar says, though, 'Yes, of course I know Medivh is dead. This merely makes things difficult, not impossible.'

The Apprentice's Key

The adventure starts, naturally enough, outside Karazhan's front gate. Karazhan itself is not hard to get to: it's at the southern end of the Deadwind Pass that connects Duskwood to the Swamp of Sorrows. Outside the gate, you'll find Archmage Alturus^AHTW, who has a pair of quests for you.
Alturus' quests are Arcane Disturbances^AHT and Restless Activity^AHT. These take place in two separate cellars beneath the town outside Karazhan itself: steps lead down from two ruined buildings, and you'll need to visit both to finish the quest. This step is soloable, but much easier in a party.
Once you complete Alturus' quests, get ready for some travelling: first he'll send you to see his fellow Archmage Cedric^AHTW, who lives to the north of Dalaran. Cedric, in turn, will send you to Shattrath to see Khadgar himself.
Khadgar is right in the centre of Shattrath, near A'dal the naaru. When you speak to him, he reveals that he has broken up his key to Karazhan into three pieces. Your first task is to retrieve the first of these from the Shadow Labyrinth, in the quest Entry into Karazhan^AHT. The key fragment is in an Arcane Container on a shelf to the left of Murmur, as you approach him. This essentially means that you need to complete the entire instance to get the fragment. (Note: you'll need at least one key, or a good rogue, to enter the Shadow Labyrinth area - see Key Quest Guide: The Shadow Labyrinth for more on this.)
When you return to Khadgar with the first fragment, he gives you a follow-up quest to collect the second and third fragments. This is has the unimaginative but practical title of The Second and Third Fragments^AHT. It involves a trip to the Steamvault, and another to Tempest Keep.
You'll need a five-man party to get hold of the Steamvault fragment. It's in a pool to the right, just before the first boss, Hydromancer Thespia^AHTW. Look for the bright glow in the water, and you'll find it easily enough. (Incidentally, it is reported that rogues, and perhaps also druids, can acquire this key through stealth.)
The Arcatraz is another instance that needs at least one key for entry (see Key Quest Guide: The Arcatraz) for details). You'll find the fragment in the room behind the first boss here, Zereketh the Unbound^AHTW. It's up a ramp in a room filled with voidwalkers, on the right. Again, it is reported that rogues can acquire this key by stealth.
Now, return those fragments to Khadgar, and he'll combine to create his Restored Apprentice's Key^AHT. Now he'll give you a new quest, The Master's Touch^AHT, that involves travelling back in time to find Medivh, and have him provide a Master's Key to gain entry into Karazhan.

The Master's Key

To speak to Medivh, you'll need to travel back in time through the Caverns of Time. It would be nice if you could just wander down the Dark Portal timeway and chat to the old wizard, but of course it's not as simple as that.

The first thing to do is travel to the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. At the entrance, you'll find a dragon, a Steward of Time^AHTW with a quest icon above his head. Start this quest (To the Master's Lair^AHT) to enjoy a whistle-stop tour of the Caverns. He'll pass you on to Andormu^AHTW, who in turn will pass you on to a Custodian of Time, who'll explain everything that's going on in far more detail than you could ever possibly need to know. Just follow the quest line through and you'll eventually end up back at Andormu.
The next step is to travel back in time seven years to old Hillsbrad (you'll need a five-man party for this step). Head through the western timeway to travel to a replica of the Hillsbrad Foothills zone as it was in the past. Just inside the zone, you'll find a quest-giver named Erozion^AHT, who'll start you on a chain of four linked quests (starting with Taretha's Diversion^AHT) that will eventually lead back to Andormu in the Caverns.
Now Andormu will send you through a second timeway, and this one leads to the Black Morass (the region where the Dark Portal now stands). Your contact this time is Sa'at^AHT, who gives you a quest, The Opening of the Dark Portal^HTW. Now you not only get to meet Medivh, but also to defend him against the Infinite Dragonflight as he opens the Dark Portal. (There are quite a few waves to fight off here, as you might guess from the word 'infinite'). Once the Portal is open and Medivh is safe, you can talk to him about keys. Being an obliging type, he'll hand over the Master's Key.
Congratulations, you know have your Master's Key^AHTW. That's not the end of the quest line, though: head back to Khadgar in Shattrath, and you can continue a series of quests that lead you on into Karazhan itself.

Key Quest Guide

Karazhan

The Apprentice's Key

The Master's Key

Related Key Quest Guides

External Links