Cities of Ascalon

Overview
Summary
 * 1) Find the historical monument in Surmia.
 * 2) Find the historical monument in Nolani.
 * 3) Find the historical monument in King's Watch.
 * 4) Return to Symon the Scribe for your reward.

Obtained from
 * Symon the Scribe in Ascalon City

Requirements (under research, see discussion)
 * a Prophecies Campaign character
 * The Great Northern Wall (mission)

Reward
 * 1,000 XP
 * Earth Scroll:
 * Energy +6 (req. 5 Earth Magic)
 * Health +25
 * Armor +5
 * Health -20 or Energy -5  (The item will have one of the two modifiers.  It is unknown at the moment whether it is random or based on some variable in the game.)


 * Grim Cesta:
 * Energy +6 (req. 5 Blood Magic)
 * Health -50
 * Energy +3 (while enchanted)
 * Energy +3 (while hexed)
 * Energy +5 (while Health is below 40%)

OR


 * Protective Icon:
 * Energy +5 (req. 3 Protection Prayers)
 * Energy +3 (while enchanted)

Dialogue
 * "Greetings, friend! I wonder if you can help me? I am attempting to preserve Ascalon's great history before all is lost. If, on your travels, you could find and record the founder's inscriptions for the cities of Nolani, Surmia, and King's Watch, I would be so grateful. I know these great cities are in ruins now, but Lyssa willing, you'll find historical markers among the wreckage. I look forward to your return."

Reward Dialogue
 * "Magnificent! These dates will help me to complete my history of Ascalon.  Was it very dangerous?  I would have gone myself, but a humble scholar such as myself wouldn't last a day out there."

Followup
 * Symon's History of Ascalon

Walkthrough
Note: The three markers can be obtained in any order.
 * From Fort Ranik move west through Regent Valley, following the quest arrow until you reach the King's Watch Marker.
 * Note: You could do this from Sardelac Sanitarium. While it is farther away and the henchmen in Sardelac Sanitarium are only level 3 (they are level 6 in Fort Ranik), the enemies encountered by taking this route are easier also.  If you are interested in human parties though, you are more likely to find human players attempting this quest from the Fort Ranik outpost.


 * Do the Ruins of Surmia (mission), near the end (after you cross the tar river but before you lower the draw bridge) will be the Surmia Marker.
 * From the Nolani Academy enter into the Diessa Lowlands (do not enter the mission). A very short distance from the portal, there's a huge staircase (guarded by mobs of gargoyles) leading to the Nolani Marker. The marker is a short distance from the top of the stairs. Locate the marker by using the Alt key and your radar.

Rumors claiming "this has been nerfed!"
There is often misinformation about the availability of the quest items above. It comes in either the form of "This quest is no longer available," or "The -50 health focus is no longer rewarded." This is incorrect. When you read the quest, you may not see it in the reward part but the -50 health part of the focus is there.

There are likely two main causes for the rumors:
 * 1) The conditions to make this quest available are not very straight forward.  Thus if people arrive in Ascalon City and expect to find this quest immediately, they would be misled into thinking the quest has been nerfed.  Additionally, the quest reward summary when accepting the quest does not show the full stats of the reward, especially the "-50 health" detail, misleading people into thinking the -50 health focus quest reward has been removed from the quest.
 * 2) Because the -50 health plays a very vital role in 55 Monking, there are people simply creating the rumors to increase the price so they can make a bigger profit.