Gate of Desolation (mission)

Objectives
Zhed Shadowhoof must be in your party to enter this mission. Tame Queen Aijundu and gain control of the junundu wurms.
 * To start Mission find Laph Longmane.
 * you must have finished either Jennur's Horde or Nundu Bay mission.


 * ADDED Defeat Queen Aijundu and her undead minions.
 * ADDED Call forth a junundu so you may ride it through the sulfur.
 * ADDED Guide the junundu to the Remains of Sahlahja.
 * BONUS You have saved # of 3 Junundu Young.

Primary
The first part of this mission involves fighting progressive waves of undead, along with intermittent fights against Queen Aijundu. Palawa Joko will lead you to a hill overlooking a Wurm Spoor, beyond which the sulfurous wastes begin. Walking into the sulfurous wastes will kill you within a couple seconds due to the Sulfurous Haze effect. If you are in a party with heroes/henchmen, it is a good idea to plant a flag at the top of the hill to keep them from running off and dying in this haze (you may also want to set them to Defensive mode, as they will sometimes chase enemies into the haze anyway). After a few waves of undead, Aijundu will attack; after depleting her health a bit, she will retreat, and more undead will attack. Eventually Aijundu will attack a second time, and when you fight her off this time, she will allow you the use of her fellow wurms to cross the wastes.

Clicking on the Wurm Spoor will summon a pack of wurms, which will swallow you and your party. You now control the wurm, with a special set of wurm-only skills, and can cross the sulfurous wastes without dying. Palawa Joko will lead the way to the Remains of Sahlahja. You will have to fight through several groups of Margonites and Elementals; at one point you will be forced to leave the wurm and cross a patch of rocky terrain on foot, then summon the wurms again. The Margonites should be no problem with your high-damage wurm skills, but be careful of the Elementals - your wurms are weak against their attacks, and the wurms have a very weak healing ability. Junundu Wail will ensure that your party never gets wiped, at least, and the wurms are not affected by Death Penalty (although it still counts up and will affect you once you exit the wurm).


 * When Taming the Queen, Elementalists and Mesmers will have a hard time damaging Awakened Dune Carvers due to Vow of Silence. Melee fighters and dervishes work well here, especially dervishes if they bring Avatar of Balthazar or Heart of Holy Flame because the holy damage from attacks is doubled against the undead. Consider bringing support earth magic (such as wards) or healing for your party.


 * When using Heroes or henchmen, flag them along the lip of the dune where the Wurm Spoor is so they won't chase enemies onto the sulfurous sands and die, as well as having a ranged attack damage bonus.
 * Note: Taming the Queen is easily done with Heroes or henchmen (even in Hard Mode) by flagging your party far away to the east from the lip of the dune so that your party will not aggro the approaching Awakened. As you follow Palawa Joko, he will pause east of the Wurm Spoor, then he will run to the west.  Flag your party at the first location that Palawa Joko stopped.  With your party in this safe location, pull the Awakened to you in small groups.


 * The first boss, Chakeh The Lonely, is the hardest part, as both him and the monk that is with his party can resurrect. Focus on killing the Acolyte monk first, then kill off the surrounding enemies one at a time. If the Acolyte is resurrected by Chakeh, kill him again -- he will only have about 20% life -- and then the enemies, then the boss. It is good to bring along an interrupt mesmer or ranger to stop some of the resurrecting.


 * When you are fighting Amind the Bitter, Nehmak the Unpleasant, and Queen Aijundu it is best to ignore the two undead bosses and go right for Queen Aijundu, and then concentrate on the two undead.


 * Take care when fighting your way through Margonites and Elementals that you do not aggro Stone Shard Crags and Cracked Mesas. They can be pretty devastating in a short amount of time.


 * If you don't feel like you need the bonus, you can run the mission from after you have tamed the Queen. All you need to do is to follow Palawa Joko.


 * The bonus can be easily done by using Heroes and Henchmen. Just carefully flag them ahead prior to freeing the first Junundu Young because they will follow only player characters.  When flagging, be careful not to have your party just rush in.  Try to pull a few enemies at a time. It is also helpful to keep your heroes on a Defensive mode while they're riding the Junundu through the mission and bonus.

Bonus
The bonus is not difficult. It is obtained by speaking to Queen Aijundu once she is tamed (although you don't have to - the bonus objective will also appear after saving the first Junundu Young). There are 3 Junundu Young which you will see throughout the mission, each guarded by a pack of Margonites. The demons will not attack them so there is no need to rush; you must simply travel to their location and clear out any enemies guarding them. The enemies are not difficult to kill, especially as a wurm.

The biggest danger to the young is actually you -- Junundu Smash will damage them, and they have low hit points. But since you will usually have taken out the Margonite mobs guarding them when they approach, they are in no real danger. Once the "saved" message appears, if that Junundu Young dies, it no longer matters (as may happen since they will follow you after you rescue them).

Sometimes there is a bug which shows there are only 2 Junundu Young to save. In fact, there are 3.

Hard Mode

 * A single player with Frozen Soil and a moderate amount of Wilderness Survival attribute points will completely prevent Chakeh The Lonely and the Awakened Acolyte's tag team resurrection. Although your own team will also be prevented from using resurrection, that shouldn't be a problem as the mob can be dispatched swiftly once the Acolyte is gone.


 * New mobs can appear in the middle of fight. Consider flagging heroes and henchmen one to two aggro circle lengths behind Palawa. As mobs appear, pull them back to this safe distance for battle. This can greatly decrease the chances of being overwhelmed.

NPCs

 * 24 Junundu Young
 * 28 Aijunundu

Allies

 * 24 Palawa Joko

Monsters
Margonites
 * 24 Margonite Executioner
 * 24 Margonite Bowmaster
 * 24 Margonite Cleric
 * 24 Margonite Warlock
 * 24 Margonite Seer
 * 24 Margonite Sorcerer
 * 24 Margonite Ascendant
 * 24 Margonite Reaper

Elementals
 * 24 Shambling Mesa
 * 24 Sandstorm Crag

Undead
 * 24 Awakened Blademaster
 * 24 Awakened Gray Giant
 * 24 Awakened Acolyte
 * 24 Awakened Defiler
 * 24 Awakened Head
 * 24 Awakened Thought Leech
 * 24 Carven Effigy
 * 24 Awakened Cavalier
 * 24 Awakened Dune Carver

Bosses

 * 28 Avah the Crafty (Soldier's Stance)
 * 28 Queen Aijundu (uses only monster skills, cannot be captured)
 * 28 Nehmak the Unpleasant (Signet of Suffering)
 * 28 Amind the Bitter (Hex Eater Vortex)
 * 28 Chakeh the Lonely (Soldier's Fury)
 * 28 Chundu the Meek (Vow of Silence)

Inside the mission
Palawa Joko: ''Before you can master the Desolation, you must first master the beast. Those not up to the task die a painful, horrible death. The great wurm Aijundu waits for you, mortal. Tame the queen or perish in her belly!''

Palawa Joko: ''My tenuous grasp on these desolate sands is weakening. I can show you where to go, but the task of taming the wurm is yours alone.''

Zhed Shadowhoof: ''Be careful. I don't trust that shambling, undead two-legged lord any farther than I could kick him.''

We've got your back.''

Zhed Shadowhoof: ''No, human. I will have your back. You lead, I shall follow.''

Palawa Joko: ''Venture close to the wurm spoor and you will awaken Aijundu. But be sure you are prepared to challenge the queen of the wurms. Once you have awoken her, she will not rest until she is tamed...or you are kicking and screaming inside her gullet.''

Palawa Joko: You have competed her first challenge, but Aijundu will not yield so easily.

Palawa Joko: ''Aijundu will hold back no longer. The more you disturb her, the fiercer she becomes.''

Palawa Joko: ''Impressive, mortal. Truth be told, few survive the first challenge and none, save myself, survive the second...until now.''

Palawa Joko: ''Youa re a tamer of the sands. Aijundu has deemed you worthy of riding her kin. Do not abuse this gift, lest you find yourself wurm fodder.''

Palawa Joko: ''Interact with the wurm spoor to become one with the junundu. Your bodies and minds will merge, and traversing these sulfurous sands will be instinctual.''

Palawa Joko: ''Follow me mortal. I will guide you through the sands of desolation. But beware! The armies of Abaddon infest the area.''

Ending cutscene
Palawa Joko: Well, well, you seem to be more capable than I thought.

Zhed Shadowhoof: Given your low expectations, that would not be hard.

Palawa Joko: ''Easy now, my little plough horse. Now if you don't mind, I will be taking my leave.''

Zhed Shadowhoof: ''This abomination preyed on my people centuries ago. Let us return him to his tomb.''

Palawa Joko: ''It took the armies of the Ossa clan to defeat me before. You think your motley band are their equal?''

Let him go.''

Zhed Shadowhoof: ''He's dangerous. We should burn him.''

We will let him go on his way.''

Palawa Joko: ''And that is why humans rule and your people are beasts of burden. They think things through.''

Zhed Shadowhoof: ''We've not seen the last of him. He'll be back, and we'll regret having helped him.''

Follow-up

 * Upon completion of the mission players will find themselves in: Remains of Sahlahja.
 * To continue the storyline, take on the following Primary Quest: A Deal's a Deal.

Trivia

 * In the final cutscene in the mission, if any Junundu Young have survived, they will appear to be traveling through the rocky area near the Remains of Sahlahja (which Junundu can't normally travel through).
 * Unusually, during this mission, pets become wurms too. They don't seem to actually assist in battle, but at least they don't die.