Ravenholdt

Ravenholdt, also called the Assassin's League, is a guild of thieves and assassins led by Lord Jorach Ravenholdt from a hidden manor in the Alterac Mountains. In Classic it is the rogues' own faction: nearly all of its quests are open only to rogues, and its manor is where many rogues first learn how much of the world's underside they can reach. It offers no gear for reputation, which makes Exalted with Ravenholdt one of the purest badges of patience in the game.

Who they are

Ravenholdt welcomes only thieves and killers of real skill. Its members come from many races, and the guild owes loyalty to neither the Alliance nor the Horde, which lets it recruit rogues from both. Its long war is with the Syndicate, the criminal network of former Alterac nobles who hold the ruins of Hillsbrad Foothills and the Arathi Highlands. The Syndicate lacks Ravenholdt's skill but makes up for it in numbers, so the League has found it more useful to shame its enemies than kill them: steal a Syndicate member's emblem and his own organization deals with him.

Where to find them

The manor stands in a hidden valley at the edge of the Alterac Mountains, reached by a narrow path through the hills from Hillsbrad. Anyone can walk in, but the place is built for rogues. Fahrad, the Grand Master Rogue, receives new recruits; Lord Jorach Ravenholdt keeps to his study; Smudge Thunderwood sells poisons; Zan Shivsproket sells rogue engineering goods; and the guards and assassins watch every visitor.

Earning reputation

Every character starts at Neutral. The sources are few and small:

• The invitation. At level 24, rogues receive the [Seal of Ravenholdt] and the quest The Manor, Ravenholdt: find the hidden manor and bring the seal to Fahrad. It is the first real test of a rogue's stealth, since the road passes Syndicate camps.
• Syndicate emblems. Rogues can bring a [Syndicate Emblem], taken from Syndicate members, to a Ravenholdt Guard in Syndicate Emblems, a repeatable rogue-only turn-in.
• Killing the Syndicate. Each Syndicate member killed, such as a Syndicate Rogue or Syndicate Highwayman, gives a few points, but this stops at the end of Honored.
• Junkboxes. Fahrad trades 200 Dusksteel Throwing Knives for five Heavy Junkboxes in Junkboxes Needed, which gives 50 reputation and costs reputation with the Syndicate. Junkboxes come only from rogues picking pockets, but this is the one Ravenholdt quest any class can turn in.
• The Azure Key. A rogue-only chain for level 50 rogues begins with A Simple Request, a summons from Lord Ravenholdt himself. He wants his stolen [Sealed Azure Bag] back from the Timbermaw furbolgs of Azshara; with the help of Archmage Xylem, the trail leads through Sealed Azure Bag and Encoded Fragments to The Azure Key. Its rewards are a choice of [Duskbat Drape], [Ebon Mask] or [Whisperwalk Boots].

With the Syndicate kills capped, the climb from Honored to Exalted rests almost entirely on junkboxes and emblems. It takes thousands of junkboxes, which is why so few players ever finished it.

Rewards

Ravenholdt has no quartermaster and no items for reputation. What changes as a rogue rises is the manor's attitude. At Neutral, the guards call visitors brash and the assassins hint at blades in the back. At Friendly they greet a rogue by name and point them to Fahrad; by Honored they praise the rogue's cunning; and at Revered the assassins whisper that Master Master Kang is waiting, that the rogue's time has come.

The real rewards are the quests themselves. The Seal of Ravenholdt quest teaches rogues to slip past danger, and the Azure Key chain hands out good gear for a level 50 character.

History and trivia

• The manor sits on land that once belonged to the kingdom of Alterac, which is why its roof has the kingdom's orange color.
• During the game's beta, Garona Halforcen stood in Ravenholdt Manor as "Grand Master of the Assassin's League". She was removed before release.
• Fahrad turned out to be more than he seemed: in Cataclysm, the rogue legendary chain revealed him as a black dragon working with Wrathion, and the manor was burned in the battle that followed.
• In Legion, Lord Ravenholdt led the rogue order, the Uncrowned, from the Hall of Shadows beneath Dalaran.

Sources

• Ravenholdt (Warcraft Wiki)
• Junkboxes Needed (Warcraft Wiki)