Southern Plains of Karana
Template:Classic Era South Karana is a very quiet place. It’s inhabitants consist of Aviaks, Splitpaw Gnolls, the mystical Quillmane, and normal critters. The Aviaks are very peaceful to most races but it is to be noted that they don’t like trolls or ogres! The Splitpaw Gnolls don’t like any race, and they are mostly in their burrow. At the northeastern side of South Karana there are Treants that drop fairly good loot and are usually camped for the money.
Recent change: The named Aviaks in South Karana will follow the same rules of faction as their fellow Aviaks.
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Dangers
This zone is populated by many wild animals, some of which (lions and wolves, primarily) will attack you if you're not a ranger or druid. While the elephants are generally peaceful, the roaming elephant named Cracktusk is not. This elephant has been driven into a homicidal rage by the crack in his tusk that causes him excruciating pain. Be very careful of this creature, for although he is not in the zone often, if he is he can sense you from farther away than you can see him, and he runs far faster than any character can without the aid of magic (and so fast, in fact, I wonder if magic would help). My ranger was tracking him from a distance, and my first view of him was with him charging me.
While this is generally true, there are a few things to note, Shadowmen do lurk on the zone's western wall, so be careful when roaming the outskirt. Another named worth mentioning is Grizzleknot, a named corrupt treant that drops a few items of worth, including bark for the Shaman quest. The two Cyclopses that spawn generally roam the Aviak KFC outskirts, and are known for pathing off towards the hermit hut. This usually ends in an unsuspecting agro from anyone camping the hermit, so be aware.
The other NPC that can be dangerous is Lord Grimrot himself. He is the bane of the Qeynos area, and there are many quests surrounding this character. He spawns at the northernmost undead ruins, just south of the bridge, and appears either as a human dressed in plate carrying a large scythe or as a skeleton (which I personally have never seen). He is so tough that I know 50th level paladins who could not solo him, but I know small groups in their mid-30's who have taken him successfully, and he doesn't roam from this area unless drawn out.
A downside, more than a danger, is that most of the good spawn spots are usually taken around the clock. These include any area near the aviak town, the treants, the spires around Splitpaw, etc. Unless you can spend some time solo'ing, I wouldn't make a super long trip to here unless you know you can get into a group, as you might be standing around for a bit.
Benefits
The largest benefit of this area is that it is one of the busiest (in terms of creatures) areas to adventure in. A person could solo or group here from the low-teens up to the early 30's in level and never leave. The large spaces allow us druids our room to kite in, and groups can also pull from the various known spawn spots.
The other plus to this area is that it is a very unique area of the world to hunt in and explore. There is no other zone with elephants, no other zone with Centaurs, no other zone with an entire aviak town. Quillmane is a pegasus that occasionally flies across the northern edge or middle of the zone, and can be taken on by high level groups. There are also cropping up many unique named NPC's here, including a wolf, lion, and cyclops. There are several undead camps that provide a large amount of experience for large groups that wish to take them out. Lord Grimrot hides out here, as well as a hermit. And on top of it all, the rough rock spires of Splitpaw rise from the center of the zone...
Spawning Quillmane
Quillmane has two triggers:
- 1 elephant calf a bit east of the aviak-tree (within line of sight), spawns every ~45 seconds in a small area
- 1 lioness (spawns faster than the calf ~15 seconds), doesnt have a fixed spawn-point and spawns all around the aviak-tree area (need tracker for this one)
Spawn-areas of Quillmane:
- a bit south of hermit house
- far west wall coming from aviak city
- on the plateau north of centaur-village
It can and in most cases will take you some hours since Quillmane has a very low chance to pop once trigger is killed, other farmers in zone hunting her too and cloak being her rare drop.
Traveling To and From
On the northern edge of the zone the surrounding hills fade away to mark a pass that leads down to the bridge to the Northern Plains of Karana loc 2400,915. The Guards of Qeynos, including their Commander, guard this bridge from their tower on the northern edge of the bridge.
On the southern edge of the zone lies a narrow pass that leads into the depths of the Rathe Mountains, including Lake Rathetear and from there the mountains themselves, and to the swamps beyond, the homes of the ogres and trolls. This is the pass one must go through on the southern route from Qeynos to Freeport.
In the middle of the zone, directly between the passes to the north and south, lies the entrance to the Lair of Splitpaw. Several stone spires marking the claws rise from the earth, and the small tunnel to the lair below lies between them.
Splitpaw Lair Zone is at (-3278,795)
