The Bloody Map: Quest Chain, Dwarvish Text and Mystery

Updated November 2, 2026

The Bloody Map begins as a short Horde quest chain and ends with an item that points somewhere nobody has confirmed. Dragonmaw Rumors starts at Hammerfall, Open the Maw sends you into the Wetlands, and the map itself is a guaranteed part of the final turn-in.

This is a useful distinction from a fully solved treasure hunt. The quest chain is complete and ready to play; the X on the map has no verified destination.

• FactionHordeQuest level 31
• StartZarukHammerfall
• DungeonExcavation SiteWetlands
• StatusMap unsolvedDestination unknown

The Bloody Map Quest Chain: Zaruk in Hammerfall

Go to Zaruk in Hammerfall, Arathi Highlands, at 74.54, 35.64Copy. Accept Dragonmaw Rumors and travel to the Wetlands.

The first quest is a conversation and travel step. There is no hidden item to farm in Arathi Highlands.

Map ArtTerrain

−+Reset

1 · Zaruk74.5, 35.6

—

Deathstalker Agent: Hills Above the Dragonmaw Camp

In the Wetlands, find the Deathstalker Agent in the hills above the Dragonmaw camp at approximately 51.4, 59.2Copy.

Turn in Dragonmaw Rumors to the agent first; he then offers Open the Maw, the combat portion of the chain, which sends you into Excavation Site: Wetlands. To reach him, take the uphill path near Thelgen Rock that starts around 53.2, 65.8.

Map ArtTerrain

−+Reset

1 · Uphill path53.2, 65.82 · Deathstalker Agent51.4, 59.2

—

Open the Maw Objectives in Excavation Site: Wetlands

The objective list is exact:

• Kill 2 Dragonmaw Saboteurs.
• Kill 4 Dragonmaw Warders.
• Recover the Dragonmaw Dispatch.

Clear the approach and the interior rooms while counting both enemy types. The Dragonmaw Dispatch drops from Dragonmaw Thaumaturgists in the Lost Dig Site; roughly one in three carries it, so keep killing Thaumaturgists until it drops rather than leaving after the first few.

The Excavation Site: Wetlands guide covers the dungeon route and boss order. The quest is marked level 31, with a minimum level of 24, and is Horde-only.

What You Get from Open the Maw

Turning in Open the Maw awards the Bloody Map (271745) as a guaranteed fixed reward, plus your choice of Knife-Polishing Rag (271740) or Dirt-Heavy Bracers (271732).

The Bloody Map is a common-quality bind-on-pickup item whose tooltip notes Dwarvish scrawl and an emphasized X. Keep it in your bank or bags after completing the dungeon quest, as its follow-up trigger has not yet been solved.

The turn-in text also mentions Rend: the Dragonmaw hoped the dig’s findings would win them favor. That explains the story, though not where the X points.

How to Read the Bloody Map and What the Dwarvish Text Says

Right-click the Bloody Map (271745) to open it. The page shows a crude sketch of the land with one clear point of interest, then three lines of Dwarvish:

Mogodun- z kost a-hine
ta golg
gar thon- kha z'ta gor weard-hald

The rest is too damaged to read. “Kost”, “hine”, “gar”, “thon”, “gor” and “weard” are all Dwarvish words in the game’s own language files, and “Mogodun-” looks like “Mogodune” with its end torn away. The game has no official translation for these words, so the line cannot be read with certainty.

Bloody Map Location Theories: Dun Modr, Uldaman and Bael Modan

No treasure location, follow-up quest or extra interaction has been found. Reading the map does not start anything. Players have proposed three places:

• Dun Modr in the Wetlands, because “Mogodun-” sounds like a dwarven place name. There is also a golem NPC named Modr.
• Uldaman, because of the inscription and the titan ruins.
• Bael Modan in the Barrens, a dwarven dig site whose boarded-up cave entrance caught attention.

These are theories, not solutions. Keep the map so your character is ready if one of them, or a later build, activates the X.

Is the Chain Worth Doing?

Yes, for a Horde character leveling through Arathi Highlands and the Wetlands. The chain is short, gives experience plus a choice reward and preserves access to an unresolved Forever secret.

The minimum level is 24 even though the quest is marked 31. Lower-level characters can accept the first step, but the Excavation Site enemies and interior still set the practical difficulty.

Alliance characters cannot use this route. No confirmed cross-faction equivalent or neutral turn-in is known.

The Bloody Map Checklist

1. Start at ZarukCopy. Accept Dragonmaw Rumors in Hammerfall.
2. Find the Deathstalker AgentCopy. The hills above the Dragonmaw camp start the second quest.
3. Count the objectives. Kill two Saboteurs, four Warders and pick up the Dragonmaw Dispatch.
4. Turn in Open the Maw. Loot the Dragonmaw Dispatch from a Thaumaturgist first; the Bloody Map comes with the choice reward.
5. Keep the map. No destination is confirmed, so deleting it closes an unresolved route.
6. Right-click the map and read the Dwarvish. Then check Dun Modr, Uldaman or Bael Modan yourself if you want to join the hunt.

Where to Go Next