Ruins of Surmia (mission)

For information on the quest Ruins of Surmia, see Ruins of Surmia (Quest).

Objectives
Rescue the soldiers taken prisoner by the Charr.
 * Safeguard Prince Rurik's life.
 * Free all the Ascalon captives.
 * Get to the Obelisks inside the ruined academy.
 * ADDED Cross the ravine and open the drawbridge for Prince Rurik and Erol.
 * BONUS Extinguish the Flame Temple by defeating the Flame Keepers.

Primary
Prince Rurik will follow the party leader. Take it as slow as possible, since he has a tendency to rush off and aggro too many enemies. This is particularly troublesome when fighting the Charr, but other groups can become overwhelming also. Eventually, after looping over the river, you will find three prison cages alongside the river (point A on the map). Each cage is guarded by a group with a boss. Make sure to clear out these groups first, as Rurik will head for the prison to open it the moment he is near it. The last prison is guarded by Devourers, so it's not as safe as it looks. Upon freeing the last group, the cut-scene is played.

A short journey later, you arrive at the drawbridge, where Rurik decides to wait with the recently-released Erol (point B on the map). To cross, you need to loop south and east, north, back west along the river under the drawbridge and then round to the right. Pull the lever to bring the bridge down.

''Note: Before approaching the lever you must go through an archway. If instead you turn right you can run up along the top of the wall that arch goes through, kill the one Charr there, and then shoot down onto the Charr on the side with the lever. From this position you can take all of them out with spells without any of them being able to target you. It might take a long time, but is fairly foolproof. If you run the mission with henchmen be sure to go all the way to the far end of the wall before shooting off your spells or the henchmen will try to run around to the other side and then bring the Charr over to you pinning you in.''

After opening the drawbridge, follow Rurik to the mages. (If you choose to do the bonus, there is a shortcut from the bonus location to the lever.)

If you close the door using the two levers after entering the final area (point D on the map), you may save some trouble. Basically, the mobs come at you in groups of 3 or 4, one group at a time. If you keep a single enemy from a group alive for a while, it will delay the arrival of the next group and allow time to heal up a bit. Finally, a group with a boss will arrive. Kill him to complete the mission. Despite the fact that Knock is supposedly Rurik's doorknob, killing every charr attacking the Academy is the only way to finish this mission.

Bonus
Just after leaving Prince Rurik at the bridge, and heading south and then east, you arrive at Breena Stavinson (point 1 on the map) who has been held prisoner in the middle of nowhere for ten years. She gives you the bonus after you free her by killing the charr boss near her. At this time, a group of Ember Bearers appears just south of you. Do not kill them yet. Follow them, taking care to stay out of aggro range, until a gate opens for them to pass through (2 on the map). Once the gate opens you can kill them. The Temple keepers are at the top of the hill inside the gate and cast Fire Storm. Kill them to complete the bonus (point 3 on the map). They can be picked off one at a time if you move to only let one into aggro. Despite their close together formation, none of them will move, even whichever you chose to fight. At the bottom of the hill, there is a second gate that leads to a shortcut to the other side of the drawbridge (point 4 on the map).

Tip: If you accidentally catch the attention of the Ember Bearers, just run away. They will become un-aggroed, and continue on their merry way!

Note: If you kill the Ember Bearers too soon, all paths (View below) leading to the temple will be locked. Also, the floating "Ember" may glitch and become stuck on the terrain, leaving the temple locked as well. This can also happen if you are in front of the Ember Bearers. This glitch is much more likely if you let the Ember Bearers out of your sphere of influence; it won't follow them properly if you are not on their map.

In addition, if you do have to kill the Ember Bearers, you CAN actually complete the bonus. If a necro goes in with a corpse using and teleporting to skill (ie, Necrotic Traversal), you can lure the Charr at point 4 and kill them. However, this character will then be stuck there for the rest of the mission.

Also, the Charr boss near Breena Stavinson can kill her before you get to her, so make sure that you don't take too long.

Hard Mode
Watch where Rurik goes at all times! He likes to run into big mobs.

Charr Mesmers (Life Sparks and Chaots) in Hard Mode have the skill Power Block, which can cause serious problems for Monks and Elementalists focused on one attribute, especially with Heroes.

Can be done with all heroes. Use your typical Elementist, Warrior, Monk and Minion master setup.

NPCs

 * Human
 * 7 Ascalon Prisoner
 * 4 Breena Stavinson
 * 10 Prince Rurik
 * 7 Erol
 * 7 Flaming Scepter Mage

Monsters

 * Charr
 * 6 Charr Blade Warrior
 * 8 Charr Axe Fiend
 * 8 Charr Blade Storm
 * 8 Charr Ember Bearer
 * 6 Charr Stalker
 * 8 Charr Hunter
 * 5 Charr Martyr
 * 7 Charr Shaman
 * 6 Charr Ash Walker
 * 8 Charr Ashen Claw
 * 6 Charr Mind Spark
 * 8 Charr Chaot
 * 6 Charr Fire Caller
 * 7 Flame Keeper
 * 8 Charr Flame Wielder
 * Devourer
 * 4, 8 Carrion Devourer
 * 4, 7 Whiptail Devourer
 * 3, 8 Plague Devourer

Bosses (skill captures)

 * Charr
 * 9 Puugh the Slasher &rarr; Shield Stance (unavailable before Dropping Eaves quest at Ettin's Back)
 * 7 Fling Bloodpelt
 * 9 Scaar Sternclaw
 * 9 Burr Mankiller
 * 9 Scint the Malign
 * 9 Slaug Firehide
 * Devourer
 * 9 Gnash Underfoot
 * 9 Hurl Foulspine
 * 9 Fester Fang

Dialogues
Briefing from Captain Miken.

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in: Nolani Academy.
 * To continue the storyline, talk to Flaming Scepter Mage Danan.