Key to Salem ' s Chest < onlyinclude > < / onlyinclude > The Key to Salem ' s Chest is required to open Dark Cleric Salem ' s Chest , located in a Scarlet Crusade camp at the northern edge of Venomweb Vale in Tirisfal Glades . It has not been known to drop anywhere to date , fueling much speculation . Official responses . According to a post on the European WoW forums the key is not obtainable in - game as of January 2007 . The question and the response are : Xive : Me and I ' m sure a lot of other players is wondering whether the Key to Salem ' s chest which is used to open Dark Cleric Salem ' s chest in Tirisfal Glades is attainable in - game as of now . The quest to get it ( if there is one ) seems to be broken . An answer would be greatly appreciated and would make us looking for the key very glad as looking for non - existant items isn ' t very constructive = / Makeitso ( May 15 / 07 ) : The named mob near the chest is Lieutenant Sanders . I looked up his name on Thottbot while trying to find information on the small locked chest found near Southshore in the Old Hillsbrad instance in the Caverns of Time . The chest belongs to a pirate named Captain Sanders , and is found in present - day WoW at the end of the low - level quest chain " Captain Sander ' s Hidden Treasure " . Coincidence ? 2 locked chests , 2 Sanders . . . this one seems a lot tougher to solve , but I figured I would point out the relation here in case it is useful to anyone . Welkin ( October 23 / 07 ) : The placement of the chest seems appropriate ; it is in a camp of Scarlet Crusaders near the Scarlet Monastery . There are three other Dark Clerics : Beryl and Duesten , both nearby in the same region , and Malod in Hellfire Penninsula ; though they seem to have sided with the Forsaken ( perhaps in their former lives they were members of the Scarlet Crusade ) . Another GM interaction on a US server ( Ravenholdt ) revealed the following : < GM > [ Kilijaz ] whispers : As it is now the Dark Cleric Salem ' s Chest does not hold much bearing on anything , but in the future it may play a more important part in the game . To [ Kilijaz ] : i see , so for now , it is not something i may interact with ? < GM > [ kilijaz ] whispers : Let me just say many players have spent a lot of time searching for the Key to Salem ' s Chest , I would advise you not do the same . Speculation on Thottbot . A possible hint was posted by " A Natural Shadow " around March 2006 to the thottbot . com entry for the key . It reads : The lost key is what ur " [ sic ] " looking for . Once hidden amongst the rubble of a statue out of place in the great city turned forsaken . Humans will never return for the sounds of the dead ring loud in the halls surrounding the throne room closed from the world . The sense of the unseen bushes you as you pass . The key has been stolen by one man not quite dead , but not quite alive , cursed by the touch of Salem . He lost himself to the world so that only those whom can save him , who would risk their own life to hand him an unseen arm of salvation . The man has been driven mad by his solitude and often speaks to himself to easy the loneliness of eternity torn . Have you paid attention to the voices that land on deaf ears in the hall of the undead ? 11 months later a poster called " Ä Natural Shadow " ( " Ä Natural Shadow " not " A Natural Shadow " , so it is probably a fake attempting to look like the original poster ) posts another riddle : The lost key you seek ? James might aid you on your quest . have u tried the floor underwater , where fishes and murlocs wander ? dose it ring a bell when i say throne room ? or did you die of boredom ? also in death u can find answers . have u talked to the ghost ? but the ghost you seek is not to be seen . Also someone who calls himself " Trust of Whisper " posts a riddle : Find the being in lustrous sheen , in the pale grey nothing alone ! Up in the fingers of lively boughs , Above the calm of this present . Down in the roots of the grey and thin , Below their chaos of the past : staying between these two before the last turn . Lift from the flesh of the earth , the eloquent posture was never praised at all . Rights of the wild in the rough , there is the scar of life . Left alone : A woman and man , calm and chaos . Write to him from Lordaeron , rotting with laughter remember : Be shy and smile softly to easily trick him . A meeting will take place , that has taken place before ! Begin in the cavernous tapestry of mortality , knowing forsaken ' s bright lore . Undead concentration wrought of pure mana . . . Thrust of whisper on green , hushed body to pull taught and stir . Rushed azure wide arching null , flooding upside - down deep . In the same location but ages , ages past . It ' s not clear where these ' hints ' came from , nor whether it actually has any bearing on finding the key . Other postings on the page refer to Undercity residents such as cockroach vendor Jeremiah Payson and Apothecary Keever ( who mutters to himself as he performs experiments on his captives ) , also there have been rumours that you have to use Spectral Essence you get in Scholomance . It has also been suggested that the chest is a holdover from the beta test of WoW .