Get to Western Wastes. Kill the giants outside Kael. There is often a faction group going on; make sure the two named wizards nearby are pulled, they give huge faction boosts for the dragons.
Doing this will get you enough faction for Thurg armor quests very quickly and even for the skyshrine quests pretty quickly too.
Keep your eyes open for Arena groups and Platehouse groups (or open raids) in Kael. This will score you faction and armor pieces, so a bit of a double-whammy. If you see Manasana in Kael there is a good chance this is what is happening so talk to him.
Gems I think are easiest to be purchased, but keep an eye out for them while factioning.
If you do choose to faction for Thurg outside kael keep an eye open for the surveyor spawn. He drops a telescope that acts as a global cooldown spell as well as boosting intelligence by 5 (range or inventory slot).
Loads more to do in Velious, Halls of Testing in Temple of Veeshan is popular too. It may even be worth signing up with a force which does that regularly as the Skyshrine quest armor is even better than Thurgadin.
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