Matriarchs Bones
The Matriarch's Bones is an event that can appear in one of the false Defiled Crypts located in the Cemetery of the Forsaken in Act I of Diablo III. A bounty may be offered to complete it.
The Nephalem must put Lady Dunhyld and her husband to rest by finding her bones in one of three urns, then slay her husband's ghost and return the bones to their sarcophagus, while fighting off numerous skeletons.
Description[]
The event begins upon speaking with Lady Dunhyld.
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Grave robbers have defiled my tomb. Now, my husband writhes in torment because I do not rest at his side.
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Three Funerary Urns, marked on the map, must be activated to find the Lady's bones. They activate instantly with no channeling required, and each causes a number of Skeletons, Skeletal Archers, and Skeletal Shieldbearers to spawn, some appearing immediately and some more over a short time. It is possible to destroy them all before activating the next urn, although the event can be completed without destroying any.
With the last one, Lord Dunhyld, a unique Wraith, appears in addition to the skeletons. Once he is killed, placing the Lady's remains into the Sarcophagus alongside her husband completes the event, dropping loot equivalent to a Resplendent Chest. Any skeletons not destroyed will remain after the event is over.
Objectives[]
Help put the spirit of Lady Dunhyld to rest.
- Bounty: Enter the Defiled Crypt
- Bounty: Kill 50 enemies in the Defiled Crypt
- Bounty: Lay Lady Dunhyld's bones to rest
- Search the 3 Funerary Urns for the bones of Lady Dunhyld
- Kill the ghost of Lord Dunhyld
- Place Lady Dunhyld's bones into the Dunhyld Sarcophagus
The bounty requires killing additional enemies, which is unusual - normally only "kill bounties" have this type of secondary objective. The skeletons that appear for the event itself can provide most of the kills needed.
Rewards[]
- Experience
- Gold
- Loot equivalent to a Resplendent Chest
Availability[]
The Matriarch's Bones only appears in one of the false Defiled Crypts, not the "true" crypt with multiple levels leading to the Chancellor's Tomb. When the event appears as a bounty, the location of the correct (false) crypt will be marked on the map in the Cemetery of the Forsaken.
This event is a guaranteed mutually exclusive "shared spawn" with the Jar of Souls - exactly one of the two events appears in every game.
Development[]
In the original version of this event, the skeletons spawned continuously until the last urn was clicked, at an increasing rate with the second urn. Lord Dunhyld appeared with each urn, but on the first and second, bringing him below 25% Life despawned him until the next was activated.
The earliest version allowed the player to touch the Sarcophagus and complete the event while Lord Dunhyld was still alive (well... not destroyed). This caused him to despawn with no experience and no loot.