Originally posted by Rhapsody:

It's unlikely you'll be able to reach the Queen without having explored a greater number of mines in the first place. I guess you could get lucky and find 3 fragments and the vegvisir in each of your first 3 mines, but you'll probably want more jelly and blood too, especially for group play with mages. Into the dungeons you go.

Funny thing is that we got the nine fragments as soon as we got the fifth core