After you and Ayuzhan have established a way to communicate with each other through the Seneschal Companion, the next phase begins.
Before proceeding with taking down Malphas, you have been instructed to Vault of Stone in the Fractured Peaks.
It is within the Vault of Stone that you will need to search for Ayuzhan’s Runecarving Tools but dangerous enemies lie ahead.
The Smothered Ache Objectives:
- Find a Way into the Vault of Stone in Fractured Peak
- Clear the Entrance to the Vault of Stone
- Search the Vault of Stone for the Stoneworks
- Retrieve the Runecarving Tools
- Destroy the Corrupted Conduits
- Progress through the Stoneworks
- Open the Door
- Enter the Quarry
- Survive the Quarry for 30 seconds
- Find the Runecarving Tools
- Return the Runecarving Tools to Ayuzhan
The Smothered Ache Quest Walkthrough
The quest begins with you making your way to the Fractured Peaks, which you can easily get to by fast-traveling to the nearest waypoint and continuing on the horse.
Once you reach the Vault of Stone, there will be multiple enemies in the area and you will need to clear them out before you proceed.
After clearing out the enemies, make your way inside the Vault of Stone to begin looking for the Runecarving Tools.
You will eventually reach a room with 3 Corrupted Conduits inside and these must be destroyed before you may proceed.
Once the Corrupted Conduits have been destroyed, you will need to clear out the rest of the enemies in the room and will be able to continue making your way through a gateway.
This will take you to The Stoneworks, which will be filled with Constructs and Khazra enemies which you must fight your way through. (There will also be traps in some of the rooms)
In one of the rooms at the end, you will find a door that leads to the next area but in order to get through, you will need to find a Keystone.
This can be picked up after you fight your way past multiple enemies and make your way around the lower right side going north.
There will be a lever that lets you out of the room near the location where you picked up the Keystone, allowing you to reach the Keystone Pedestal easily to open up a nearby door.
Continue fighting your way through the enemies in your way until you reach the Quarry and once you arrive enemies will begin to spawn.
An event in the room requires that you survive for 30 seconds while enemies will continuously spawn after they have been killed.
It’s best to kill as many as you can to avoid being overwhelmed by them and once the timer is up, you may proceed to the next room.
Once you have reached the last room, you will find Ayuzhan’s Runecarving Tools on a table just after you head up the stairs.
There will also be a Vault Coffer (Chest) that you can open before you leave The Stoneworks, which will provide you with loot that may include a Tuning Stone.
Head back to the Gatehall by exiting through the nearby door and speaking with Ayuzhan in his usual spot to complete the quest.
The Smothered Ache Quest Rewards
After you have brought back the Runecarving Tools and have spoken with Ayuzhan, the quest will be complete and a new one called The World He Knew will begin.
Completing The Smothered Ache will reward you with the following:
- XP
- Gold
- Salvage Cache
Verdict
To fight back against the demons, Ayuzhan will require his Runecarving Tools, which should come in handy later.
Ayuzhan does not have that much experience with demon magic, which is why he believes you will need to visit the old hideouts of the Vizjerei.
To point you in the right direction, Ayuzhan has marked the locations for you, which sets you off to search for the hideouts.
