This quest is a PvP quest for the world event here. Basically, you hunt around the area and look for little geysers marked ""Silithyst Geyser"".

Using one of these geysers WILL flag you, and provide a ""buff"" that slows your movement speed. You then bring it to the machine in the horde encampment where it gets added to your faction's resource pool. You can't mount, or the silithyst you collected becomes a little mound of powder on the ground where you mounted. You'll have to go back and pick it up. For mages, Blink will work without dropping the silithyst powder. I'm unsure on the other methods of quick movement, like sprint, and travel form. If there's a high alliance presence, bring some escort with you.

Once you get the silithyst to the camp, you get a 30 minute buff that increases all your melee, ranged, and spell damage by 5%. I don't know exactly what you get if you get to 200, but I believe it's a buff that effects everyone in the area.

To get to the camp, just go to the little horde icon on the map. The camp's location is indicated by this gigantic red pillar sticking up from the extractor machine you put the silithyst into.

I have confirmed now that Travel form is affected by the debuff, and you don't go faster. It doesn't drop on shapeshifting either.

you can find them at these locations: https://vanillawowdb.com/?object=181598 https://vanillawowdb.com/?object=181598

This quest (at least the first hand in) counts towards https://vanillawowdb.com/?achievement=1680 Loremaster of Kalimdor

if youre in a group with other players on this quest, only one person has to get the silithyst and take it to the extractor. everybody in range when the carrier gets to the extractor will get a completion notice

As of patch 4.2, they moved the spouts away from the faction camps. Currently you can only find them at the far west twilight encampments, as well as the Swarming pillar.
I guess they felt that since no one uses the place except for one quest, they figgured to make it a bit more challenging.
Odds are though, unless someone is REALLY bored, you won't run across any gankers out there.

A note to sneaky types: you can stealth, but it causes you to drop your silithyst.

Thankfully, when I tested it, it formed a neat little pile at my feet, patiently waiting to be picked up again by my cowardly self.

The Silithyst is picked up by clicking on an existing https://vanillawowdb.com/?object=181598"">(Object #181598). The node locations are are on the map on that page. There are more node locations than some of the comments here have indicated, but few will be active at any time. Look at the screen shots to see what to look for, but be aware that the geysers aren't always erupting. Often there is just a little vapor. When you pick it up, you get the https://vanillawowdb.com/?spell=29519"">(Spell #29519) debuff (limited to 100% speed), you are flagged for PVP and you glow to make it easy for Allis to spot you so they can try to take your silithyst. (It would be very unusual for anyone to be around to bother you nowadays.) Nothing is added to your bags. If you try to mount or stealth or are killed, a https://vanillawowdb.com/?object=181597"">(Object #181597) is created at your location, allowing anyone (including you) to take the silithyst.

You turn in the silithyst simply by stepping into a ""silithyst extractor"", which looks like a glowing (visible from far away) portal machine across from General Kirika (the quest giver for this quest). Doing so increases the Horde score in the zone tally by one, removes the debuff, turns off your PVP flag (you have to wait 5 minutes, as normal) and gives you about 3 [currency=392] (may vary with level) and 20 https://vanillawowdb.com/?faction=609"">(Faction #609) rep (plus any racial and guild bonuses and such), but no XP. Then you talk to General Kirika to complete the quest and get the quest rewards. There is no repeatable quest, but you can turn in more silithyst for the honor points and rep as often as you want to. It is rare that someone would bother anymore. EDIT: Apparently the https://vanillawowdb.com/?spell=29534"">(Spell #29534) buff that you received when turning in the silithyst has been removed as of Cata. Even before Cata, it had no effect at level 70 according to comments.

In theory, the first faction that reaches 200 earns the zone-wide https://vanillawowdb.com/?spell=30754"">(Spell #30754) buff. The game is reset when the second faction reaches 200. Any server restart also resets the tally and so few people care anymore that the score never gets close to 200 before that happens. ADDED: I have seen scores > 100 since cross-realm zones were implemented, but don't know how often that happens. High level characters can gain Cenarion Circle rep much more efficiently by running https://vanillawowdb.com/?zone=3429"">Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj. Other people farm Twilight Cultists and do the https://vanillawowdb.com/?quest=8319"">(Quest #8319) repeatable quest.

(Much of this has been said before, but not all of it, and no one has tried to summarize everything for a while.The Alliance version of this quest quest=9419"">is here.)