Frozen Highlands
The Frozen Highlands are a snow-locked late-game region in the northwest of Enroth, ruled jointly by Baron Anthony Stone (Castle Stone, with the village of Hargraeve beside it) and Marquis Erik Von Stromgard (Castle Stromgard, west of the town of White Cap). The region holds two dungeons — Icewind Keep and the local Shadow Guild — plus Obelisk #7, a Training Hall in White Cap (Riverside Academy, levels up to 50), and a string of buff and curse fountains.
You first arrive on the Grand Tour (Stage 8): fly in, collect every council and promotion quest from Lords Stone and Stromgard, touch Obelisk #7 behind Castle Stromgard, and leave — the dungeons here are deferred. You return on the Promotion Finale (Stage 10) to clear Icewind Keep for the Dragon Tower Keys and to cash in the Cleric and Archer-track promotions at the two castles. The Shadow Guild is run as part of the Prince-of-Thieves chase that culminates in Stage 10.
Keys
- Dragon Tower Keys → a door
Ambushes
- Drink from Well.: monsters
Traps
- event 209: Fireball
Connections
- → Shadow Guild
- → Icewind Keep
Quests
Capture the Prince of Thieves
[stage]Giver: Lord Anthony Stone (Castle Stone)
Stone's High Council quest. The Prince is taken in the Free Haven Sewers by clicking the bed in the secret room, then walked back to Castle Stone — but he only spawns there after you have chased him through the earlier thief lairs, including the Shadow Guild here in the Frozen Highlands. The Sewers run itself is handled in Stage 10.
Repair the temple
[stage]Giver: Lord Anthony Stone (Castle Stone)
Cleric promotion quest. Hire a Carpenter and a Stonecutter in Free Haven and walk them into the burned-out temple to rebuild it, then return to Lord Stone to be promoted to Priest.
Place the Sacred Chalice in the temple
[stage]Giver: Lord Anthony Stone (Castle Stone)
The follow-up Cleric promotion. Recover the Sacred Chalice from the Temple of the Sun (Bootleg Bay), seat it in the rebuilt Free Haven temple, and return to Lord Stone for promotion to High Priest.
End winter
[stage]Giver: Lord Erik Von Stromgard (Castle Stromgard)
Stromgard's High Council quest. The endless winter is broken by the Hermit on the Mountain in the snowy southern mountains of Kreigspire; talk to him, then turn the quest in back at Castle Stromgard.
Retrieve the Key to the Dragon Towers
[stage]Giver: Lord Stromgard (Castle Stromgard)
Archer-track promotion quest. The Dragon Tower Keys are hidden behind the throne switch in Icewind Keep; return them to Stromgard for promotion to Battle Mage.
Reset all of the Dragon Towers
[stage]Giver: Lord Stromgard (Castle Stromgard)
The follow-up Archer-track promotion. Town Portal to each of the six main towns and have the key-holder push the button on that town's Dragon Tower so it stops firing at you in flight; return to Stromgard for promotion to Warrior Mage.
Dungeons
When: later (Stage 10 — Dragon Tower Keys for the Battle Mage/Warrior Mage promotions) [cleared in stage]
Symmetrical keep ringed by archers. Clear the left wing (Ogres) and right wing (Guards), throwing the wing switches; door-spawned mobs can be shot through the hole in the big door. Behind the throne switch, a secret east passage holds four chests — one has the Dragon Tower Keys (and a useless Dragon Riders scroll).
Rewards
- Heavy Poleax
- Mighty Broadsword
- treasure-tier-6 Helm
Connections
- → Frozen Highlands
When: later (Stage 10 — part of the Prince-of-Thieves chase; not a standalone objective) [cleared in stage]
Thief/genie den holding the Rogue Leader and a Lesser Genie. The Rogue Leader's room is reached past a trapped teleport room and four spoken-answer riddles. Clearing it is one of the lairs the Prince of Thieves must be chased through before he appears in the Free Haven Sewers. (See Secrets for the riddle answers and the teleport-room trick.)
Trainers
Castle Stone (Frozen Highlands)
No Expert teachers, only Masters: Repair and Disarm Traps (in Hargraeve, the village next to Castle Stone), Leather and Dagger (upstairs at Castle Stone).
Trains: repair (master), leather (master), dagger (master), disarm-traps (master)
Castle Stromgard (Frozen Highlands)
Experts on the castle grounds: Bow (W. door of house on N. side of the grounds) and Mace (E. door of the same house). Master: Diplomacy (on the roof of Castle Stromgard).
Trains: bow (expert), mace (expert), diplomacy (master)
White Cap (Frozen Highlands)
Riverside Academy provides Skill (Normal) training (levels up to 50). Experts: Bow and Mace (at Castle Whitehaven), Dark Magic (SW house at the end of the block). No Master teachers. (GameFAQs also lists Diplomacy Master 'above Castle Almos' here, but that location is Eel Infested Waters; see Castle Stromgard for the Diplomacy Master.)
Trains: bow (expert), mace (expert), dark (expert)
NPCs & Shops
Castle Stone & Hargraeve (Baron Anthony Stone): the lord gives the Capture-the-Prince-of-Thieves council quest and the Cleric promotion quests. A Protection Services (thieves') guild here trains Dagger, Merchant, Identify Item, Perception and Disarm Traps; the village has an Inn, Weapon Store, Armor Store, and a temporary +10 Levels fountain at Castle Stone.
Castle Stromgard (Marquis Erik Von Stromgard): gives the End-Winter council quest and the Archer-track promotion quests. On the grounds are Expert Bow and Expert Mace trainers and a Master Diplomacy trainer on the roof, plus a temporary +30 Might fountain and the Shrine of Endurance (active in April, inside the castle gates). Obelisk #7 sits directly behind the castle.
White Cap: home to the Riverside Academy Training Hall (Normal skill training, levels up to 50), the Elements Guild (Earth/Air/Water/Fire Magic, spellbooks 1–8) and the Dark Guild (Dark Magic, spellbooks 1–6), the Blade's End weapon guild (Staff/Spear/Sword/Axe/Repair), a Temple, Inn, Bank, stores, and Coach Service. Castle Whitehaven on the grounds has Expert Bow and Expert Mace; an SW house teaches Expert Dark Magic. White Cap also holds permanent stat fountains that kill the drinker (+5 Might, +5 Endurance) and several temporary buff fountains (e.g. +20 Speed & Accuracy, +20 AC). The Dragon Tower here is used for the reset quest.
Coach service connects to Free Haven (Monday/Thursday, 3 days, 200gp); on foot it is 5 days east to Silver Cove, south to Free Haven, or west to Kreigspire.
Secrets
Show spoiler — Shadow Guild — the four riddle answers
The Shadow Guild's spoken-answer riddles take the following replies: “fish”, “dark”, “time”, and “arrow”.
Show spoiler — Shadow Guild — the trapped teleport room (Rogue Leader's room)
The large trap room before the Rogue Leader teleports you to the entrance if you misstep. Two ways through: (1) jump to the same tiles around the room and you'll be teleported to the entrance of the Rogue Leader's room; or (2) have one character “smile” at the north end of the room (you'll hear an audio cue), then jump out of the room and walk into the Rogue Leader's room on foot without teleporting. If sparks appear, you've tripped it — start over.
Show spoiler — Obelisk #7 location
Obelisk #7 is directly behind Castle Stromgard — fly over the castle to reach it. You must click all 15 obelisk screens across the continent to activate the treasure cache (the full message points to a heavily trapped rock cache in northern Dragonsand).
Combat
✅ Clear
- Icewind Keep Ogres & Guards — the door-spawned mobs can be shot through the hole in the big door for safe XP and gold-stuffed beds; the Dragon Tower Keys are the prize (Stage 10).
- Shadow Guild Thieves/Burglars/Rogues and the Rogue Leader — low-HP melee thieves; required to advance the Prince-of-Thieves chain (watch for Cutpurse/Bounty Hunter/Assassin item theft).
- Loose Archers / Master Archers (35–93 HP, no immunities) — cheap XP when isolated; clear your landing zone before going into a castle or keep.
⏭ Skip
- Fire Archers (171 HP, cast N5 Fireball, 30% elemental + 10% magic resist) — packs of these out-range you; don't slug it out on foot, Town Portal out if swarmed.
- Magyar Matrons (247 HP, 50% elemental / 30% physical resist) — very tanky and dangerous in the open; avoid until you have resist gear (Magyar/Magyar Soldier are also high-resist).
- Harpy / Harpy Hag / Harpy Witch flocks — fast flyers; the Witch casts N3 Mass Curse (can curse the whole party) and Ages you, the Hag Curses, the Harpy makes you Drunk. Don't fly into the mountain flocks.