Shady Rest Inn quest chain The Shady Rest Inn quest chain deals with all of the quests involved with the Shady Rest Inn . Alliance perspective . Lead - ins . One way or another , players find themselves talking to Captain Garran Vimes at the Foothold Citadel on Theramore Isle , who suggests that they inspect what is left of the Shady Rest Inn on the border of Dustwallow Marsh and the Barrens . From Stormwind : From Theramore : At the Shady Rest Inn . At the Shady Rest Inn , the quest branches into three paths , each starting when a different item gets looted . Loot the Black Shield : Loot the Hoofprints : Loot the Theramore Guard Badge : Conclusion . After completing The Deserters 2 , The Black Shield 3 , and Suspicious Hoofprints , Vimes opens up the conclusion of the quest chain starting in patch 2 . 3 . 0 : Horde perspective . Krog in Brackenwall Village in the Dustwallow Marsh is said to be investigating the burning of the Shady Rest Inn . Located on the border of the Barrens and Dustwallow Marsh , the inn was torched by unknown vandals . Although the owner of the inn , a man now known as Smiling Jim , escaped , his wife and child were not so lucky . Their brutal deaths weakened Jim ' s grip on sanity , and he can now be found in the city of Theramore , reciting the same poem over and over again . Very scant evidence is available to indicate who or what was responsible for the destruction of the inn . Still , some adventurers have reported seeing a set of hooftracks leading away from the inn , and at least one investigator recovered a scorched black shield from the wall of the inn . According to the engraving on the shield , it was crafted by Mosarn — a very respected blacksmith in Thunder Bluff . Even more importantly , a golden badge belonging to Lieutenant Paval Reethe , a deserter from the Theramore Isle military , has been found in the charred ruins of the inn . With the help of an ogre named Ogrok , Paval Reethe was tracked down , but he was executed by the Theramore military before he could disclose the name of the person responsible for the arson . Although many adventurers have contacted Mosarn regarding the shield , he was unable to provide any specific information regarding its owner or anything that may help the investigation . Thus , it can be concluded that the investigation has reached a dead end and is unlikely to advance until either Mosarn provides the information required or some additional clues surface . The burning of the Shady Rest Inn was an unfortunate incident that spelled trouble for the relationships between the Alliance and the Horde . The fact that Thrall specifically ordered the humans of Theramore Isle to be left alone further fuelled the Warchief ' s anger over the destruction of the inn , leading him to order an investigation into the incident to find those responsible and bring them to justice . At the Shady Rest Inn . At the Shady Rest Inn , the quest branches into three paths , each starting when a different item gets looted . Loot the Black Shield : Loot the Hoofprints : Loot the Theramore Guard Badge : Conclusion . Patch 2 . 3 . 0 added a concluding chapter to this story . After completing Black Shield 5 , Suspicious Hoofprints , and Questioning Reethe , Mosarn will volunteer new information to the player and give the quest " Return to Krog " . This begins the final steps of the quest chain .