Blackburrow

Blackburrow is the home of the Blackburrow clan of gnolls. It is something of a combination between underground dungeon and above ground hunting area, and represents the only pathway to get from Everfrost Peaks and the home of the barbarians to The Qeynos Hills and lands beyond. The overall structure of Blackburrow consists of two entrances and a ring with a deep hole in the middle. There are multiple tunnels to the lower levels where higher level gnolls can be found.

File:Blackburrow entry.jpg

A view of the entrance to Blackburrow.

Level of Monsters: 4-15+ Types of Monsters: Gnoll Pups, Scrawny Gnolls, Gnolls, Scrawny Gnoll Guards, Burly Gnolls, Gnoll Guards, Gnoll Shamans, Gnoll Elite Guards, Gnoll Commanders, Gnoll Brewers, Gnoll Master Brewers, Razorgills, Giant Plague Rat, Giant Snakes, Bear, Splitpaw Refugee, Splitpaw Commander Notable NPC's: Gnoll Courier, Lord Elgnubb, Trannix Darkpaw Adjacent Zones: Everfrost Peaks, The Qeynos Hills Name in /who: blackburrow ZEM Value: 1.33 Type Outdoor Expansion Classic

Map

Map image needed. File:Map blackburrow1.jpg 1. Pit Trap

Map image needed. File:Map blackburrow2.jpg 1. Snake Pit 2. Snake Ledge 3. Elite Room 4. Commander Room 5. Fall to here from pit trap above

Map image needed. File:Map blackburrow3.jpg 1. The Bridge 2. Out of Era - Teleporter to Jaggedpine Forest

Safe/Evac Spot

Description needed.

Dangers

This zone is quite dangerous, mostly for two reasons. The first is that it is famous for its "trains." Trains are created when a gnoll runs to the lower levels after being attacked, encounters some of its fellows and recruits them to help him to return to the top. Invariably, the gnolls at lower levels in Blackburrow are tougher and more dangerous, and I've seen trains of almost a dozen Gnoll Elite Guards running through the area. Since they are all above 10th level and the average level of a character on the top is about 8th or so, these trains leave a trail of bodies behind them and a large number of high level characters running to the exits /shout'ing "run" and "zone" and "TRAIN!!!" Quite satisfying.

The other danger is that there is a large variance in the strength of the gnolls who spawn at the top, which is made more dangerous by the fact that there really isn't a good, safe place to stand and keep an eye on the spawn spots. They spawn all around you and have a wide range of levels, so you can wind up attacking a much more powerful gnoll if you don't /con first. Needless to say, this happens often, and people will be running past you with gnolls chasing them.

The other problem, and this is more of an annoyance than a danger, is that there are 15th level warriors sitting at the top killing scrawny gnolls when they appear. What I mean is, there are a lot of high level people who don't go kill gnolls their own levels in the lower dungeons, but instead hunt on the top. This can mean slim pickings for us lower level people. It can also mean more trains, because a very low level monster will flee when attacked by one of these guys, and if they aren't quick enough or smart enough to catch it before it runs down its hole, you can bet a train is on its way.

Benefits

This area, although dangerous, does provide some good benefits. First of all, the gnolls are generally pretty wealthy. Most of the gnolls you kill will either have a weapon or some cloth armor item, all of which are worth cash. You'll find that every time you go home, you'll feel rich for having hunted there.

The other reason people hunt here is for quest items, mostly monks coming out of Qeynos looking for items for the quests. They can only be found here, so monks are seen here frequently with their parties. There are quite a few other quests that can be done here, looking for various items for use in the surrounding towns, so the place is a hub of activity.

The character of hunting in Blackburrow has changed significantly over the past few months of Everquest, and I have changed this guide to note that. When the average player was about 10th level, Blackburrow was swamped and it was almost impossible to get a kill in anywhere in the dungeon. Trains happened about every 5 minutes, and you had to play at 3 am in order to get a shot at camping the Elite Room. Now things are different. The dungeon is much more open as people have improved the levels of their characters, and you can actually hunt here.

Traveling To and From

There are two entrances to Blackburrow. The first is on the southeast segment of the canyons of Everfrost Peaks, which can be hard to find given that the area is confusing. I'm not sure why, but I get lost there about every other time even though I've travelled that path about a hundred times now. The tunnel is guarded by several gnolls, and has up to three of them down through it, so you'll often see barbarians who are timid to go into Blackburrow itself hunting out here. The tunnel itself is long and dark, and used to be impassable without a light source. I believe they've improved it, but not by a ton, so don't count on it being vastly lighter.

The other entrance is through The Qeynos Hills, and the entrance is in the northeast corner of the zone. There is no path to it, but it is east of Surefall Glade and north of the zone to the Plains of Karana. The gnoll head canopy is hard to mistake. There are several good spawn sites nearby for gnolls, especially a few for gnoll watchers in groups that are fun to take out for lower level groups. The tunnel here to Blackburrow is much lighter and shorter.

Garden Variety's Glorious Adventures and Travel Guide to Blackburrow

Nestled between The Qeynos Hills and the peaks of Everfrost to the north, Blackburrow is the present day home of the Sabertooth Gnoll Clan. The Sabertooths are known for the constant raids upon the city of Qeynos. The city of Qeynos and Surefall Glade continue to send out hunting parties to try to purge the threat.

In the past, over 500 hundred years ago, the original excavation of the deepest level was done by a group of Dwarves long since forgotten to time. Evidence of their superior stonework is still found in sections of the complex, although their purpose within this region of Norrath remains as mysterious as their fate.

The Sabertooth Clan originated in the Jaggedpine Forest, but migrated to the hills just beyond the evergreen woodland's borders. There they found the abandoned Blackburrow complex at a time when then-nomadic people of Jaggedpine were inexorably driving them out of the forest. The Sabertooths retreated to the complex and made their stronghold as conflict with the Human settlers began to reach dangerous levels.

The Sabertooth Clan has remained active in the area now known as The Qeynos Hills since before the construction of the great Human city of Qeynos. It was around the time that Antonius Bayle, the Great Unifier and the patriarch of this famed namesake, united the coastal settlement of Oceangreen with Human clans in the regions of the Karana plains and the Jaggedpine Forest that the construction of Qeynos began.

When Oceangreen was first created, the yet to be named, The Qeynos Hills was home to several different clans of Gnolls. The largest of these clans, the Sabertooth Clan, was the only clan violent towards Human settlers. However, this violence would not hinder the construction of what would become the jewel of the Human race.

One generation later, Antonius Bayle II, the Great Defender, appointed Gynok Captain of the Tower Guard. Captain Gynok Moltar would order small units of his guards to slay the Gnolls in Qeynos Hills, unbeknownst to his superior and commander. It was well known that Gynok despised the Gnolls, who had slain his parents years before. Gynok would later cut off High Shaman Opalla's hand during the elder Gnolls' attempt to make a treaty of peace with the Humans. This led to the eternal war between the citizens of Qeynos and the Sabertooths.

Bestiary

Found 0 NPC's that spawn in Blackburrow.

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Items

Found 0 items that spawn in Blackburrow.

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Quests

Found 0 quests that start in Blackburrow.

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