Quests
Crushbone Belt Turn-In (Faction)
Repeatable belt turn-in for Faydark's Champions faction. Classic-era Greater Faydark / Felwithe / Kelethin grind.
The Crushbone Belt Turn-In is a repeatable faction quest using "Belt of Crushbone" pieces looted from officer-tier orcs in Crushbone Keep. Hand them in at Felwithe or Kelethin guards to push Faydark's Champions faction up. This is the iconic Faydwer newbie-band faction grind — one of the most-run repeatable quests in classic EQ.
At a glance
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Faction (+) | Faydark's Champions, Soldiers of Tunare |
| Faction (−) | Crushbone Orcs, Emerald Warriors |
| Required item | Belt of Crushbone (sometimes "An Orcish Belt") |
| Source | Officer-tier orcs in Crushbone Keep |
| Turn-in NPC | Felwithe or Kelethin guard NPCs |
| Reward per turn-in | Small coin + faction shift |
| Faction shift | ~+2 to +5 per belt (estimates vary by NPC) |
| Repeatable | Yes |
| Recommended level | 8-15 to farm safely |
How to obtain the item
Belts drop from Officer-tier and named orcs in Crushbone Keep — the throne-room area, the upstairs castle wings, and the named pop spawns. Drop rate is moderate; expect one belt per several officer kills. Grunts and pawns do not drop the belt — only the officer-tier and above. Many players combine belt farming with experience grinding because the zone is already a top-tier newbie XP spot.
The most efficient farm route: clear the front yard for pawn density, push to the moat, then loop officer spawns in the upstairs castle wings. Named orcs (Emperor Crush, the upper officers) drop the belt at higher rates and also yield other named loot.
Where to turn in
Hand in to guard NPCs in Felwithe or Kelethin. Different guard NPCs may give slightly different faction values — Felwithe guards typically give the cleanest Faydark's Champions push. Confirm faction shift in your faction window after the first turn-in if you're optimizing.
The Felwithe guards are inside the city proper, so KOS races need illusion or invis access (see Tips). Kelethin guards are in the tree city above Greater Faydark — the wood-elf-religion priest NPCs near the Soldier's Hall area accept the same turn-in for parallel faction movement.
Faction implications
Each turn-in raises Faydark's Champions and Soldiers of Tunare while lowering Crushbone Orcs and other orc-aligned factions. This is exactly what most players want — orc faction is functionally useless on The Last Camp, while Faydark faction unlocks Felwithe vendors, Kelethin merchants, and safe transit through Greater Faydark for evil races doing illusion runs.
The faction shift is small per item but compounds: a stack of 20 belts moves you visibly on the faction bar. Most characters see "dubious" → "apprehensive" within 30-60 belts; "apprehensive" → "indifferent" takes a similar batch.
The Last Camp any-race-class note
Under The Last Camp's any-race-any-class doctrine, this is the go-to grind for any character who wants merchant access in the Faydwer cities — including Dark Elf Paladins, Erudite Druids, and any other non-canonical combo whose home city won't accept them. A Dark Elf Cleric, for example, can run belt turn-ins until Felwithe is ambient or apprehensive, then buy spells from Wood Elf vendors that would otherwise be KOS. The grind is non-combat-gated past the kill step, so even fragile casters can run it.
For canonical Wood Elf and High Elf characters, the grind is mostly redundant — starting faction is already ally with Faydark's Champions. For canonical Half-Elf characters whose religion choice put them on a non-Tunare path, this grind re-asserts hometown faction lost to the unusual religion.
Variations and edge cases
A few situations come up often enough to call out:
- Belt name drift. The drop sometimes appears as "An Orcish Belt" and sometimes as "Belt of Crushbone" depending on which orc table dropped it. Both work; do not destroy belts thinking one is the wrong item.
- Officer vs grunt confusion. New players sometimes farm grunts hoping for belts. Grunts do not drop them. Look for orcs explicitly named "Officer" or "Captain" or "Commander," plus the named throne-room spawns.
- Felwithe vs Kelethin guard-faction tilt. Felwithe guards weight the turn-in toward the Felwithe sub-faction; Kelethin priests tilt slightly toward the wood-elf religion line. Both raise Faydark's Champions; the side-faction differences only matter if you are also tuning a specific religion line.
- Faction window quirks. Some Faydwer factions are hidden until a turn-in unlocks them in your window. If you don't see the expected faction listed, hand in one belt to surface it.
- Stack splitting. If you over-hand-in (more belts than the NPC accepts in a single dialog turn), the extras may be returned. Hand in one belt at a time until you have the cadence verified.
Tips
- Farm officers in batches. Stockpile 20-40 belts before turning in — single-trip turn-ins are inefficient.
- Watch for "An Orcish Belt" vs "Belt of Crushbone". Both names appear in the live data; both are valid for the turn-in.
- Faction caps at "Ally". Once you hit ally with Faydark's Champions, additional turn-ins still give coin but no faction movement.
- Evil races: turn in via illusion. Illusion: Wood Elf or Illusion: High Elf potions from a friendly Enchanter let KOS races approach the guards.
- Combine with Faction Orc Pawn. Pawns drop alongside officers in the same kill stream.
- Faydark faction unlocks the Wood Elf bank. Merchant access alone is worth the grind for any character planning to base out of Greater Faydark.
- Track faction movement live. Open the faction window before the first turn-in, then again after — confirm which faction is moving and by how much before you commit to a long batch.
- Crushbone is also a known XP zone. Killing officers for belts feeds character experience at the same time — efficient dual-purpose farming for level 8-15 characters.
- Bring a stack-splitter approach. If you want to time-budget the run, hand in 5 belts, log faction movement, then commit to the rest of your stack at the known rate.
- Belts have weight. A stack of 20 will hit your encumbrance threshold on a low-strength caster — drop unused gear before farming.