The Turncoat is a short Skyborne-area quest that sends you off the beaten path and into hostile territory. There is no talking, no fetch list, and no escort. You walk to a house, kill everything that tries to stop you, and find a body.
Quick answer: Take The Turncoat from Talxanris Shadowsong in Valanaar, travel southwest into Shen’dar Highlands, clear the Al’Aketh Assassins guarding the secluded house, and click the Dead Cultist on the floor inside.
The Turncoat quest details in WoW Forever
The quest is picked up indoors in Valanaar, on Zephras Isle, from an elevated building. Grab it, walk back out to the path, and open your map before you run anywhere, because the objective marker is the only thing pointing you at the house.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Quest giver | Talxanris Shadowsong |
| Start location | Valanaar, Zephras Isle |
| Objective | Locate the isolated house in Shen’dar Highlands. |
| Turn-in object | Dead Cultist (on the floor inside) |
Route to the secluded house in Shen’dar Highlands
Clearing the Al’Aketh Assassins on the approach
The trail through the woodland is patrolled by Al’Aketh Assassins, and they do not come one at a time. Expect several fights on the way up, plus another cluster sitting directly on the path to the door. There is one more waiting inside the house itself.
- Fight along the trail, not in the open grass, so you only pull what is in front of you.
- Clear the group at the foot of the path before walking up to the entrance.
- Deal with the assassin inside the house before you reach for the body on the floor.
Check your spellbook before you head in. Crowd control and interrupts are worth slotting on your bar here, since the assassins arrive in packs and stack damage quickly.
Completing The Turncoat and starting the follow-up
Step through the doorway and look at the floor. The turncoat you were sent to find is the Dead Cultist lying inside, and interacting with the body is what completes the quest. There is no NPC to talk to and no item to loot first.
You will know it worked when the interaction opens a quest window with a Complete Quest button, and the objective clears from your tracker. A follow-up is offered immediately from the same body, so accept it before you walk out.
The follow-up handed out at the corpse has shown up under different names during the beta, including Unholy Rites and Unresponsive Peltis, so the title on your screen may not match what you have seen elsewhere.
Quest wiring like this is still being tuned ahead of the November 4th, 2026 launch, so names and small details can shift between beta builds. The route itself is stable: head southwest from Valanaar, punch through the assassins, and the body on the floor does the rest.
