Faction Walkthrough: Hand of Glory (Turan)

One of the only good things to come out of the 2011 Conan movie was the Savage Coast of Turan adventure pack.  This provided another level 50-55 leveling area, two solo instances, a group instance, and a Tier 3.5 Raid that almost nobody did due to difficulty for the rewards given (I think that's changed recently).

This walk through will provide a basic guide to joining the Hand of Glory, advancing in the ranks, and listing the quests available.  It also contains some story spoilers.  This chain has some fun dialog and many of the characters you meet have some fun non-game advancing lines that are worth a read if you're lore hound and enjoy tie-ins, even if its from a relatively bad movie.




As you adventure through this region there's a specific chain of quests to join and elevate in the ranks of the Hand of Glory, as you work for the shifty All-Reaver, Ela-Shan.  This walk through will cover the quests leading up to and for the Hand of Glory.

Voyage to the Savage Coast

To start the quest chain, talk to Tali in Khemi at the Souk in the (located at 990,1142).  She'll grant the quest "Voyage to the Savage Coast".  Make your way over the Madu (892, 1022) and either pay 75 copper or swim across the channel to the area where you can take a caravan to Khitai.  The Turanian caravan master is around the corner from the Khitai one and is located at (1200, 844).

He'll take you to the docks of Ardashir.  Artus, Conan's old friend is standing nearby at (423, 807).

"Assault on Armaments" and "Envoy of Ardashir"

To start the next quest, you need to leave the city.  Walk/ride towards the front gate at (463, 626).  Once there "Assault on the Armament begins.  You can either help or watch the guards decimate a few Kozaks.  After the battle, a question mark appears of Sergeant Pirooz who will ask you to speak to the General at Fort Ardashir on the "Envoy of Ardashir" quest.  To enter the fort, you must speak to the guard.  Clicking on the gate will give you an error message.

After talking to the General ("The Admirable General") you're asked to interrogate a Kozak near the gate (it's to your right as you leave the fort, not the front gate).  Go talk to the Corporal at (399, 642) before trying to interrogate the Kozak.  After the Kozak breaks down faster than an old jalopy go back to the Fort to report your success.

"Artus the Merchant" and "Princely Gift"

After this, Artus has several new quests including "Artus the Merchant" and "Princely Gift". For Artus the Merchant, you have to swim over to the nearby island indicated on your map to collect some bottles of sparkling wine (or Boom Boom as Artus calls it) and talk to some of the drunken pirates.  If you travel north on the west side of the island (closer to the city), you will pass the Shipwrecked Seafayer.  Complete that escort quest on the way back from collecting the wine.  That quest will allow you to do the "In the Shroud of the Sea" fetch quest later for Ela Shan.

The Princely gift involves stealing lotus from the Temple of Elrik and is the quest that leads you to the Hand of Glory faction.  Following the quest instructions, go to the Temple of Elrik, talk to Acolyte Kaveh near the entrance (301, 654) and then go over to the crate located at (257, 635) to update the quest.  Talk to the Acolyte again and then head back to Artus.  He'll send you to the docks to steal a crate that has yet to be delivered to the Priests of Elrik.  It's located at the Docks.  Regardless of how you sneak it back to Artus, you're caught which will trigger the next quest chain (though I've found if you stay on the water side of the wall you can sneak to Artus without being seen, if you'd actually like to feel like you're successful).  After talking to the guard nearby, you need to drop the crate of lotus off near (315, 744) and then go talk to Pirooz at the front gate.  When you return to get it go back towards Artus, at some point you will get a message that your pocket was picked starting the chain "The Master Thief".  Confront the Old Man who wanders Ardashir City.  Threaten him if it makes you feel tough.  After the conversation head to (336, 679) which on the Trader side of the entrance to the Temple of Elrik.  Click on the broken crate and the quest chain updates.

You then can either follow the trail of lotus flowers or run directly to the end location.  The flowers are located (in order) at the following locations:

Crate: (336, 679) --> (643, 683) --> (351, 673) --> (364, 646) --> (396, 625) --> (396, 612) --> (408, 613) --> (418, 615)

At the last lotus flower, take the ladder (or jump down, your health will return) and you will meet Ela Shan.  When you accept his invitation to join the Hand of Glory you will be granted 5,000 Faction standing points.

The Apprentice Thief and In the Shroud of the Sea

He will give you the quest "The Apprentice Thief" which will have you combing Ardashir for boxes containing golden idols.  You need to collect seven of them.  Here are the locations for the ones I've found that are accessible:

Jump down from where Ela Shan on the wall of the gateway to the city: (461, 618) and (470, 628)
Run up the long flight of stairs at the back of the city.  On the roof with the mosaic rug, jump down to the left of the blue tarp (368, 616).  Under the maroon tarp just below is another one (368, 621).

There's one each on the small docks at (348, 784) and (351, 784) as well as one sitting near where you stashed the lotus crate (311, 737).

A little platforming in an MMO.

There's two that are accessible if you got to the base of the stairs at (268, 781).  Run up both flights and jump across to (274, 772).  Then jump onto the thatched covering and down on the far side to another (272, 765).

If you climb the ladder at (314, 818) and go across the lattice and down the other ladder there's another box at (303, 833).

Completing this repeatable quest gives 3 Golden Taurus and 25,000 Faction points.  If you completed the Shipwrecked Seafayer, you can mention the wreck to Ela Shan and he'll give the repeatable quest "In the Shroud of the Sea".  This also grants 25,000 Faction points and two Golden Taurus.  Each Golden Taurus is worth 50 copper.  To complete this second quest, swim to the indicated area on your map (near 580, 755) and collect the 8 sunken Golden idols.

Matters of the Past

Ela Shan's previous guild ended poorly, to put it nicely.  He recently discovered that he's being hunted by a Nemedian and he asks you, his Daushtar, to take care of this problem.  The Nemedian Trader is located at (308, 750) and is a yellow mob.  Killing him and returning to Ela Shan grants 25,000 Faction points.

At rank one you gain access to blue weapons purchasable in Ardashir at a vendor located at (408, 653) for 12 silver each. 

One Fledgling in the Hand

Ela Shan decides he needs more help and wants you to find some eyes and ears for him on the streets.  You didn't realize you'd get to interview lackeys, did you?  There's three people you need to talk to, in the order the quest wants.  Go to talk to Lotus addled Anoosh (355, 677), then Captain Mohawk/Boy Scout Pashatan (319, 770), and finally Azade (402, 623).  Return to Ela Shan for another 25,000 Faction points.  Azade will now be the one giving you the repeatable quests so Ela Shan can focus on standing around.

The Setback of Ela Shan

Ela Shan sends you to the docks under an assumed name that might be familiar to anyone who saw the 2011 movie.  Judging by the name of this quest chain, you can tell it doesn't go particularly smoothly.  Talk to the Harbor Master (387, 738), then grab the crate (395, 734), and then do the walk of shame over to the guard (392, 721).  From there you'll be whisked away to Ardashir Fort where Pirooz and you have a little chat.  Return to Ela Shan for 25,000 Faction points and a whole new scheme.

The Burden of Ela Shan

Your boss is very disappointed but maybe not this dissappointed.  You get to make the Harbor Guard who's been thwarting your plans (despite having hide maxed; I think his perception must be at 1000 or more).  Go to (396,720) and beat the stuffing out of him.  Get him to spill his guts and then go back to Ela Shan for 25,000 Faction points and the next step in your quest.

The Vengeance of Ela Shan

After a stirring dialog, Ela Shan decides he wants blood.  Go find the Slave Trader (330, 628) which is at the top of the long flight of stairs towards the back of the city.  Kill him and take his dagger.  Go to Mah-Banou [Serving Girl] located at (381, 634) dand buy a Flagon of Ale.  Go to Captain Parang (369, 689) and get him drunk.  What I find a little unbelievable about this quest is that a pirate wouldn't already be drunk, but moving on.  Plant the dagger on him and then talk to the local City Guardsman at (361,691) and watch him go all Judge Dredd on him.  By the way, don't get accused of a crime here, their crimminal justice system is a little flawed.  Return to Ela Shan for 25,000 more Faction points.

The Woman Who Lost Her Heart

Ela Shan now sends you to the desert canyon (where there's some other quests to do as well) to meet the last member of the Hand of Glory.  Kharshid is at (178, 452).  Meeting her and getting her story will grant you 25,000 Faction points.

Secrets of the Black Seers

Kharshid sends you to get a piece of paper from the Black Seers.  Its best to couple this with the quest "The Wizards of the Himelians" but only since you have to go to the exact same place.  Once you gather the paper, return to Kharshid, to start the next quest.

The Thief in the Night

As a nice tie-in, Kharshid wants to make the magical rope Taurus used in the Robert E. Howard story, the Tower of the Elephant, including gathering sap from the Upas tree.  Now you might be wondering where do Upas trees grow?  Dead Man's Hand, apparently.  There's a few Upas trees near (471,318) o Dead Man's Hand.  The next ingredient is a little harder to get since it's time dependent.  If you haven't bought a shovel as part of the Exsanguinous Discoveries quest you'll need to get one (464, 672).  It should be noted that the Exsanguinous Discoveries quest will require you to buy a shovel to advance it, even if you already have one.  With a shovel in your pack, go to the burial mounds outside the city at (474, 575).  You can dig up the dead woman's hair as early as 2100 (or 9 pm).  I'd suspect that you can dig up to 0300 (3 am).  With both ingredients in your possession head back to Ela Shan for 25,000 Faction Points. This is quest is required to complete the Treasures of Iron Statues.

Now wait ~28 levels and get yourself some pretty nice gear once you're 80 before attempting this last quest.

Manuscripts of a Madman and the Treasures of the Iron Statues

On the Island of Iron Statues, beyond the temple, there's a path starting at (830, 533) to an outlook where the mad hermit Aratus lives.  Once you defeat him, you find his journal in his hut (838, 457) which starts the "Manuscripts of a Madman" quest.  Once you're Rank 3 with the Hand of Glory talk with Ela Shan and he'll grant the quest "The Treasures of the Iron Statues."  He'll give you Taurus' Rope of Climbing which will boost your climbing to 800 for five minutes.  If your climb skill was already 800, you don't need the rope but will have it handed to you anyway.  I don't believe you can even get this quest without finishing a Thief in the Night.

There are four treasure chests (and you need three to complete the quest).  The first is in the chamber with the iron statues (666, 633).  The second is hidden amongst the webs in the corridor just past the statues to the left (763, 672).  The last two are at the top of the vines along a wall as you exit the building (800, 620).  The first is the player cursor, the second two locations are the approximately where the blue boxes are shown.

Completing this quest gives 50,000 Faction Points.  At Rank 4, you can buy a Rhino.

And there you have it, The Hand of Glory in all it's, er, Glory.

7/31/14: Update Shani on the Forums corrected that you can buy the blue weapons at Rank 1, not Rank 2.