Apostate Finale

Overview
The Emissary of Asheron has you investigate the appearance of new portals inside Gear Knight dungeons which brings leads you to fight the Apostate Grand Director. You are rewarded with a triple Epic virindi mask. It helps greatly to have the Gear Knight Recall spell, or a handful of MMDs so you can use the portal summoned by Merkitz ibn'Akadh in Xarabydun.

Walkthrough & Notes

 * 1) After speaking with the Emissary of Asheron, head due north to a burrow entrance to the Gear Hunter Dungeon at 7.2S, 75.0W.
 * 2) From entrance stick left until you come to a room with hallways leading down to the north and south.
 * 3) Go north and down, at the next intersection go east (left). Soon after you'll come to a 4 way intersection, go north (left).
 * 4) Stick left until you come to a six-sided room with a 150+ req Mysterious Portal and go inside.
 * 5) In this dungeon is the first of three shards you need. See map for the location of the Apostate Nexus Master that drops nine s. Or follow the directions below for each intersection after the drop.
 * 6) Straight (West)
 * 7) Left (West)
 * 8) Straight (North)
 * 9) Straight (East)
 * 10) Once each person has a Sparkling Apostate Shard exit the dungeon.
 * 11) * Optional If you return to the Emissary and show him your shard. He will direct you to proceed you to the next section. To speed along simply go to the next step. The shard lasts 60 minutes so if you lose your shard for some reason you will need to get another one to continue.
 * 12) Run to the Direlands Gear Knight Dungeon at 10.4S 75.2W (southmost of the three burrows around the Resonator device). Go straight at the intersections go straight, left, and finally turn right.  You will find a Virindi mask attached to the wall of the right column.  Use the shard and a portal will open, everyone go in.
 * 13) Once inside the Apostate Nexus (Scintillating), either stick left or stick right and you'll soon come to a large room with mana fountains at the bottom/end. Next to it will be another Apostate Nexus Master that drops 9 s.
 * 14) When everyone has a shard exit the dungeon. Return to the Direlands Gear Knight Dungeon at 10.4S 75.2W and stick left until you come to the room with the Iron Blade Warmaster. Use the most recent shard in this room to open a portal to the Apostate Nexus (Shimmering).
 * 15) When everyone has a shard exit the dungeon. Return to the Direlands Gear Knight Dungeon at 10.4S 75.2W and stick left until you come to the Virindi Mask on the wall next to the tunnel that leads down to the room with the Iron Blade Warmaster. Use the most recent shard in this room to open a portal to the Heart of the Apostate Nexi.
 * 16) Once inside, stick left until you come to a large room, continue sticking left and take the hallway leading east out of the large room and continue sticking left until you come to a jump. At the bottom of the jump is the final boss, the Apostate Grand Director.
 * 17) When you have defeated him, loot one of the 9 . Kill again if more shards are needed.
 * 18) Once everyone has a shard, head back to the camp and give the shard to the Emissary to receive your rewards.

Notes
 * The boss frequently doesn't drop a corpse on death. He respawns in five minutes, it seems to work best if you surround his spawn spot (the pillar of energy in the middle of the room) and don't let him move from his spawn spot. He also sometimes disappears before he dies (again wait for respawn).
 * Once you complete the quest (turn in the mask shard) you lose your flag to enter the Mysterious Portal so you won't be able to help anyone with the quest.
 * The for the Strathelar Royal Cloak Quest is found in the only dungeon that has checkerboard tile floors. When you enter there is a ramp in front of you going down. At the bottom of the ramp are two rooms, one to the left, and one to the right. The Large Tome is in the room on the right in the far left corner on the floor.

Images
Click image for full size version.

Opening Dialog

 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Greetings!"
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I have been sent here to ask adventurers, such as yourself, to aid in a rather delicate situation my Lord Asheron has found himself in."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "He has learned that the disruptions endangering a small pocket of located Empyreans are tied to a set of growing Temporal anomalies, as well as direct interference by these 'Apostate' Virindi."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "To that end, he has located a confluence of overlapping temporal and portalspace disturbances in the Iron Blade fortifications to the north of here, as well as a defended portal in the caves of the Apostate Simulacra."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I have been given the means to allow you passage through the defended portal, but from there, it will be up to you to locate and end the disturbances, so my Lord Asheron may stabilize the area around the located Empyreans, and extract them from their present circumstances."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "There are several ... points, of greater disturbance within the Iron Blade's tunnels. we originally thought them to be due to the high levels of Aetherium, combined with the methods the Iron Blade Primus is using to control the portal pathway to his or her homeworld, but there are temporal anomalies mixed into the disturbances that lead my Lord to believe that they are related to the Portalspace that have prevented him from simply removing the group of Empyreans he has located..."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "My apologies, I do ramble on sometimes."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "The short form. There's a portal in the simulacra cave we believe to be key to ending the disturbance.  I can protect you from the barriers and wards upon it."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "In there, hopefully, you'll find the source of the problem, or something that will lead you through the points of greatest disturbance in the Iron Blade Tunnels."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Find the force or entity responsible, end it. Return to me with proof, and I'll reward you."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Any questions?"


 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Hello again! Have you located the source of the disturbances that are blocking my Lord Asheron from rescuing the pocket of Empyreans he has located?"
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "We managed to detect several temporal and portalspace disturbances within the Iron Blade's area of influence, and believe that masked portals may be hidden within their tunnels."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "We also managed to locate a new portal in the deep cave the Simulacra have delved near to the Iron Blade fortifications, and believe that may be a good place to seek out what is needed to find the masked portals within the Iron Blade tunnels."

Giving Sparkling Apostate Shard to Emissary of Asheron

 * You allow Emissary of Asheron to examine your Sparkling Apostate Shard.
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "A fascinating piece of congealed energy. It does not look very stable though.  I fear it would not long survive contact with the energies that animate this form."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Perhaps it can be used to open a passageway into portalspace, if brought to the correct area in the Iron Blade tunnels? It does resonate similarly to one of the detected anomalies within the tunnels."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I wish I could tell you more, but the Aetherium levels in the tunnels and in the Gear Knights make it difficult to pin down an exact location... Which would indeed be a great reason to hide something there..."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Good luck!"

Giving Scintillating Apostate Shard to Emissary of Asheron

 * You allow Emissary of Asheron to examine your Scintillating Apostate Shard.
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "A fascinating piece of congealed energy. It does not look very stable though.  I fear it would not long survive contact with the energies that animate this form."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Perhaps it can be used to open a passageway into portalspace, if brought to the correct area in the Iron Blade tunnels? It does resonate similarly to one of the detected anomalies within the tunnels."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I wish I could tell you more, but the Aetherium levels in the tunnels and in the Gear Knights make it difficult to pin down an exact location... Which would indeed be a great reason to hide something there..."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Good luck!"

Giving Shimmering Apostate Shard to Emissary of Asheron

 * You allow Emissary of Asheron to examine your Shimmering Apostate Shard.
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "A fascinating piece of congealed energy. It does not look very stable though.  I fear it would not long survive contact with the energies that animate this form."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Perhaps it can be used to open a passageway into portalspace, if brought to the correct area in the Iron Blade tunnels? It does resonate similarly to one of the detected anomalies within the tunnels."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I wish I could tell you more, but the Aetherium levels in the tunnels and in the Gear Knights make it difficult to pin down an exact location... Which would indeed be a great reason to hide something there..."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "Good luck!"

The Grand Director

 * A throbbing pain forms in your mind and you hear, "You will pay for the mistake of interrupting our work here, fleshling. You'll beg for death before I finish with you."


 * As 's final blow rends the Grand Director's cloak asunder, the creatures' mask shatters into multiple shards.

Rewards Dialog

 * You allow Emissary of Asheron to examine your Shard of the Apostate Grand Director's Broken Mask.
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "This is amazing! I have never seen so much power packed into a small shard of Virindi mask like this before!"
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "The energy signature on this also matches the brunt force of the disturbances that have striven against my Lord Asheron!"
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I believe, I owe you both great thanks, and reward for the aid you have given me in my task. Ah, I have an idea!"
 * The Emissary absorbs the shard, glowing brighter for a moment, and then pulls from his center a smaller mask, identical to the one the Grand Director wore.
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "This being was indeed at the heart of the Portalspace disturbances, but strangely not the temporal ones..."
 * Emissary of Asheron tells you, "I will relay your success and these findings to my Lord Asheron. Hopefully, the temporal disturbances alone are not enough to further delay his rescue efforts."
 * You hand over 1 of your Shard of the Apostate Grand Director's Broken Masks.
 * Emissary of Asheron gives you Apostate Grand Director's Mask.
 * Emissary of Asheron gives you Strengthened Mana Forge Key.
 * You've earned 430,962,225 experience.