The Aldenor Quest

The light was dim in the Jolly Boar. The Barman was having a hushed conversation with three experienced revenant hunters, a few lumberyard workers were washing away the coating of sawdust in their throats, and in a dark corner I was having a hushed conversation with a fellow adventurer. As I’d entered the bar earlier he had called me over and asked if I’d like a drink in exchange for a few of my best stories, I’d happily obliged and soon we were chatting about our various exploits.

“…And here I was thinking that Zombie Ogres were impressive! But you’ve clearly had some run ins with nasty blighters…those Ice Tunnellers sound mighty strange…”

“You’re right about that…but Zombie Ogres are pre–”

I followed his shocked gaze and saw a man rush into the bar, battleaxe in hand. Several of the lumbermen leaped up and attempted to stop him. I watched in horror as his battleaxe carved through them in two mighty sweeps. As they crumpled to the floor me and the other adventurer stood up and at the other’s urging I ran across the room with him and followed the crazed man up the stairs.

I watched in shock as the other adventurer shoved the crazed man into a room and barred the door. It was only after I heard the contented chuckle that I realized it was the room that Dimintheis’s son Jonathan stayed in. Then I heard a scream and the breaking of a window, and finally I heard a sound that could only be the man jumping out of the window.

Charging into the room I saw to my dismay that he had taken Jonathan with him and that at least he had survived the leap and made his way off into the evening…

As I walked back down the stairs I was set upon by three heavily armed guards. Looking around I was shocked to see that the entire bar was swarming with them. They were questioning every inhabitant of the bar viciously, and as I watched the captain cuffed one of the revenant hunters and sent him sprawling across the floor. The hunter pulled out his crossbow and shot the guard captain in the shoulder, at which point he was decapitated by a vicious swing of a battleaxe.

The guards questioned me on the events of the night, although I yelled at them indignantly they seemed to have no care for the escape of the man or his captive, they seemed only interested in the description I gave of the fugitive.

Just as I was about to lose hope the door burst open and Rat Burgiss strode into the bar accompanied by two high ranking guardsmen. These two proceeded to order me untied and Rat pulled me away.

“This is serious [You]. Dimintheis has become a hugely powerful figure in the nation’s politics ever since he defeated the army of Zemouregal. This attempt on his son’s life could be pretty important…I’ve already received news that he is pushing for a citywide lockdown, and he has the authority to have it done, go do whatever you adventurers do!”

I quickly made my way down the stairs. I dashed out of the bar and around to the ground below the window. I carefully tracked the footprints of the man south from the inn, and past the statue of saradomin… where to my horror I saw the bloody corpse of Anna Smith. Stunned by the awful sight I made my way to the gates of Varrock…where I was informed that access to Varrock had been sealed off on the orders of the king…after giving the guard a beer I was still carrying in my pack I managed to find out that Dimintheis (now Lord Dimintheis of Varrock after he had saved the city) had been the main force behind the sealing of the gates.

I attempted to enter Varrock in several ways. Teleports were blocked off, the GE had been cut off from the rest of Varrock, and a perimeter of guards was set up from the gate of the GE to the wall south of the West bank.

Going to my last resort, I made my way over to edgeville…strode through the dungeon, and crawled through a pipe into the Varrock sewers… I wandered through the winding tunnels and pipes and clambered out of the manhole into Varrock.

Right between the bank and the main wall I saw what could only be drag marks from Jonathan’s body. I followed them through the street in front of aubury’s rune shop then to the back door of the Blue Moon Inn…

The back room of the Inn was wrecked and I could tell immediately that they had gone into the cellar…Nothing could have prepared for the grisly sight that met my eyes in that dimly lit room.

The walls of the cellar had been knocked down in three locations, several roughly carved tunnels stretched out, on to the north, one to the south, and one to the east. But the center of my attention was the body sprawled out on the table. It was the same man who had charged into the bar and captured Jonathan, but a strange runic symbol had been burned into his chest. The most horrifying part of the scene though, was that the skin of his head and hands weren’t attached to the bones…in fact they were lying on another table.

It was at this moment that eight dark mages [Lvl 92] emerged from the eastern tunnel, each of them was carrying a crate. One of the mages threw the crate at me, it exploded in a massive swirl of magical energys [draining all stats by ten and hitting 30]. The other dropped the crates on the ground and rushed at me. Only through luck was I able to fend them off and kill them.

I searched the battered corpses flung across the floor and found a diagram of the cellar and tunnel system. The south tunnel ended in a small drawing of a house with a balcony, the north tunnel ended in a small room with the letter “J” written on it, and the east tunnel ended with the symbol of a fire rune.

I decided that I should investigate the north tunnel first. As I walked along I heard an agony-filled voice screeching curses. Finally I entered the chamber at the end of the tunnel, Jonathan (for of course he was the person indicated by the letter “J”) was strapped to a large stone column, and three dark mages wearing beaked masks and with clawed gauntlets were whispering horrible things into his ears.

I ran into the room in full battle gear and proceeded to slash viciously at the mages [lvl 122]. The first went down in two quick slashes before the others could respond. The second ran at me and although I dodged he raked four shallow yet painful lines across my chest, the claws seemed to ignore my armour as if there was nothing there. I pulled a crossbow from my belt and landed three darts in his chest. The third mage was now upon me. He leaped onto my back and clawed at neck. I grasped his shoulders and flung him across the room where he was impaled on the beak of the masked corpse of the first mage.

I quickly untied Jonathan who ran across the room and was crushed by a rock falling from the ceiling. Although appalled at what I had just seen I decided to investigate the other tunnels. At the end of the eastern tunnel, I found a small room with a ladder in the middle. Around the room were crates which upon further inspection were in fact filled with rune. I climbed the ladder unlocked the trapdoor above it and clambered up into a familiar room.

“[You]?” Aubury whispered in shock.” How in the world did you get here!?”

I quickly explained the events of the day to him, “…It appears that those dark mages have been stealing runes from you.”

“So that’s where they’ve all been going. But why?”

“That’s what I’m hoping to find out,” I said as I went back down the ladder and proceeded to the final tunnel.

The final tunnel seemed rather uninteresting and quickly made its way to yet another ladder. Above the trapdoor I found myself in one of the many houses of South Varrock—although I had noted in my earlier wanderings that it was the only house with direct access onto the wall form the second floor. The floor had a rather prominent bloodstain and I realized that based on the picture on the wall this was where the dismembered man in the cellar had originally lived.

I walked up the stairs [enter instanced situation in which the wall is able t directly interact with ground floor where circle is (like castlewars wall)] and immediately heard noise coming from out on the wall, I crept through the open door and saw that 5 mages were lowering crates of runes form atop the wall down to the wizards in the circle below.

The chief mage in the circle spoke in a booming baritone, “We shall summon Aldenor, King Roald shall never be able to wipe us from the earth!”

“Aldenor!” they all screamed ecstatically.

A dark voice spoke angrily into my mind, “Those fools are exactly the dark mages who make me necessary…I shall not intervene on their behalf.”

Shocked by what I had seen I ran down the stairs where I was met by Rat Burgiss and Zaff. Realizing from the interested look on his face that he wanted to know what was going on I quickly explained what had happened, he turned to Zaff.

“Inform Dimintheis of this tragic happening. Me and [You] will bring down the wrath of the kingdom upon them.” At this command Zaff teleported away. Me and Rat walked out into the street where a huge troop of elite guards marched to the south gate. The two guards, who we had realized must have been in the pay of the wizards, were executed summarily.

But as we marched towards the circle a strange sight met our eyes. The dark wizards were under attack by a strangely garbed group of dark mages. Black darts of pure energy shot from their hand and the Circle Wizards fell to the assault one by one. The guards attempted to intervene but some heavenly force intervened and they were thrown back from the melee.

“Witness the power of the god of Dark Magic. Across the land dark mages have sworn allegiance to the magic first and the other gods second. It is petty fools like these who increase the blazing flames of prosecution that threaten to engulf us. I SHALL NOT STAND FOR IT.” The dark voice had re-entered my mind and as it screamed the final words the few remaining original wizards were engulfed by pillars of black flame.

The mages who had attacked turned outwards and their leader spoke to the Varrock Guard troop, “We shall leave your city in peace, we shall not allow these foolish dark mages to lead to the persecution of all dark mages. But we claim this circle in the name of Aldenor, and any who encroach will be dealt with swiftly. But we shall not extend our reach.”

A bewildered Rat Burgiss sent swift messengers to the king requesting orders, when they returned Rat turned to me and spoke in a hushed voice; “The King and Lord Dimintheis wish the violence to stop. We shall leave them in peace.” These last words he spoke for all to hear.

As the men fell back I saw Zaff gesture to me. When I approached he whispered in my ear, “You must find out what this thing they speak of is, this Aldenor...come speak to me in my shop when you have the time.”

And so it began…

Slightly bewildered by the events that had recently befallen me I darted through the streets of Varrock. I slowed to a walk as I entered the central square, paused for a second to wave at Gypsy Aris and toss a coin into the central fountain, and then strode into Zaff’s Staffs.

As I entered Zaff looked up from his work, “Ah hello there [You]. I assume you’re here about that whole Aldenor business.”

“Yes. In fact I am. I just can’t get it out of my head; it’s so damn strange.”

“Well, I’m just as confused as you are. Wizards with bird masks, dark mages killing each other, and the skin of a perfectly nice man being removed from his body aren’t exactly the norm around here.” Zaff muttered worriedly. “We need to get to the bottom of this; I need you to do some information gathering. Do you still have your beacon ring?”

Quickly I darted off to the bank and retrieved my ring, when I brought it back Zaff muttered some strange words and handed me back a slightly glowing ring. “I’ve enchanted it so you can contact me with any information you get.” He said as he tossed it into my hand.

I immediately discounted my usual source of info, I was pretty certain that Zaff would have already talked to the palace librarian of his own city. This meant that I would need to find someone a little bit more knowledgeable in the dark arts. Quickly making a decision I called forth my own magic and teleported to Falador. I made my way over the crumbling western wall and down to the Dark Wizards tower.

I had ran up the many flights of steps and was now facing the head of the tower, the powerful Zandar Horfyre. He chuckled at the sight of me, “Well well, If it isn’t my favorite tele-other practice dummy.”

Before he could reach for his runes I grabbed his wrists and spoke softly yet forcefully. “What do you know of Aldenor?”

“Aaaah. The quest for Aldenor. Yet another fool who thinks they can penetrate the veil of dark magic and discover our true allegiance—but since it amuses me I will tell you that in the cliff-face of the mine north of here is a concealed door, this enters one of the few established temples of the dark god. But it’s defenses are quite formidable.”

I looked at him with a trace of shock and asked him the only question that he had left unanswered: “Hidden how?”

“The door only opens to light filtered through a ruby lens, then runes of death, chaos, and soul must be placed upon the door.”

After I had gathered my supplies I went to the mine and held up my newly made ruby bullseye lantern. I saw three faint symbols on the wall and placed the runes against them, suddenly a door emerged from the wall. I reached out my hand to open it and was thrown backwards by a blast of force, as I approached the door again I realized that although I had revealed the door I had also charged it with destructive energy which I now would need to remove.

Again I returned to the gate, this time carrying several essence stones. I pressed them against the door and felt the runic energies being absorbed, after I had charged 7 essences I sensed that the door was safe to touch, and I threw it open.

Down the shadowed stairs I went and finally found myself in a large columned hall. Floating red werelights illuminated the chamber. I the very center there sat a boy in black robes. As I entered the hall he cast a bolt of black energy at me and I was thrown into a warped dreamworld…

And so began the first of my tests. I found myself in a strange warped forest. At the center of the forest I could see a glowing altar that was certainly my goal. However the entire thing was a giant maze of trees, there were four types of tree, and scattered throughout the maze were fragile axes of various types that would each break after I had used it 5 times, also depending on the type of axe it could only cut down one or two types of trees, but eventually I made it to the center and stepped out.

The young boy was now a young man and as I walked farther in he cast another bolt of energy at me, tossing me yet again into the dream world. I was in a strange warped room…a voice echoed in my head. It told me an item and asked if I was ready, when I agreed it began to count down and some items appeared in my bag, I quickly realized that I had to make the said item before the counting was done. [examples: 2 natures and a fire staff…the required item is 10 coins, so you high alch one of the nature runes. Serum 207: Tinderbox, yew logs, and an unfinished tarromin potion.] after a few such trials I was released into reality.

Finally I found myself in the chamber facing an old man I braced myself just as the third bolt of energy hurled me into yet another world. I was standing in a cage. There were rows upon rows of single celled cages [each one square, right next to each other]. On the floor of each cage was a tablet with a carving of a different chess piece. Every time I broke a tablet I found I was able to teleport to any cage that that chess piece would have been able to move to. Finally I worked my way to the portal and stepped out. I saw that the man was now a sage who’s skin seemed about to melt off his bones. He raised a hand and beckoned me forwards…

He began to speak in the tone of a story-teller, “They met on an isolated, rocky and barren island. Although they numbered but seven among the many dark mages of Gielinor they came knowing that they had the support of the multitude...”
As he spoke an image formed in my mind of seven mages in a circle, the image was blurred and indistinct, “They made a dark oath that night. To serve no god before the magic. To obey no authority absolutely save the magic. To do anything necessary to protect the magic. To form a brotherhood beneath the magic. And above all, to worship the Magic.

They brought to bear power so great that none could challenge them, they new what it would cost them. But they deemed it worthwhile to protect the Magic from the barbarous hordes sweeping from the north.

Surrounded by a fleet of barbarians, under direct assault from servants of Saradomin, they did something so sacrilegious that no one can fully comprehend. They bound together the power and will of all the dark mages joined by this love, and with it they forged a sentient being, the god-being Aldenor protector of Black Magic,” with his final word blackness filled my sight.

I spoke but two words, “The isle.”

He chuckled.

I grabbed at him and spoke in a desperate tone, come to think of it I don’t even know why I was so desperate, “Where is the isle. I must find it.”

“I am but the guardian of this temple, only Aldenor’s Wanderer can tell you of the Isle. He wanders the world at random. Carrying the most sacred of all secrets with him.”

And so I set out. I traveled around the land, following the whispered hints of rumour. I spoke to the barman in one town, who had heard rumours of a robed wanderer in another town. I bought drinks for some adventurers to loosen their tongues, and finally In the midst of a dark forest I found him walking, a dark mage of indeterminable age.

[Basically he wanders around like Bob, all players can see him though so you'll just need to find out where he is, a cc will probably evolve eventually]

I approached him carefully, and when he looked at me I began to talk, “Where is the Isle of Aldenor, I must know…I must.”

“You speak the truth, though you know not why you need it…I will tell you what must be done if you can best me in combat. But you alone do not deserve this, there is another who is worthy in a different way. He is the Sea-Mage Kria-zor, he hunted me down long before you and he will, with your help, sail the ship that I told him how to build to the isle that is shall tell you how to find. Now let us duel!”

After a prolonged duel [lvl 200] he surrendered and spoke, “You have my blessing…go forth.”

“But how…?”

“Ah of course. Take this scroll; it uses the energies of fire, death, chaos and the cosmos to enchant a ruby, the ruby will focus any light passing through it in the direction of the isle.”

“I’ll do that.”

“…wait, before you go, the ship must be manned by only dark wizards or Aldenor will not allow it to pass.”

And so Part II ends…

It was a few days later that I found myself back at the top of the Dark Wizards tower. I had already made the lantern and was now talking to Zandar Horfyre. “…so you see, I need to talk to Kria-Zor.”

“Ah, good old Kria. Last I heard he’d set up shop on an old abandoned fishing platform, he’s got the whole thing rigged up and is building some sort of—of course, that’s what that he must be building there—a huge ship. He get’s his shipments brought in by a smuggler named Klarense—”

“Klarense!?”

“You know him?”

“Yeah. I bought his ship which he then stole back from me.”

“Well of course, he’s a smuggler type…anyway, I’ll send one of my apprentices down to Port Sarim to tell him to take you.”

When I walked down the dock Klarense looked up and sighed. “Well of course this would happen, and you’re probably going to get my ship wrecked again.”

“I’ll try not to. Seeing as how I wouldn’t want to damage my property.”

After a bit more antagonistic banter we set off. Soon after I saw a set of huge black stone spikes rising from the horizon, as we approached them I began to make out platforms built between the rocks, and on these platforms black-robed figures bustled about casting spells and levitating planks, fishing and chiseling, and much more. When the boat got there I hopped onto the nearest platform where a young apprentice was waiting to take me to the man in charge of this whole operation: Kria-Zor.

“Ah, you must be [you]. So you are the one of whom the wanderer spoke to me so many years ago. Odd that you should come here today. The—”

“My lord, the mainmast and the figurehead require their enchantments.”

“Thank you. Follow me [You]”

I followed Kria-Zor out onto the huge platform outside his office and looked down upon the monolithic black ship nearing completion spread out below us. Kria Zor spoke strange words so dark and deep and powerful that I could not repeat them if I tried, Bolts of energy poured from his hands and from the piers of stone around us down into the mainmast and the figure head, A black glow began to spread throughout the entire ship…then the black Archmage spoke “The spells are complete, as is my ship, we set sail when you are ready.”

[Move into a Burgh de Rott Ramble/ Temple Trek-like situation, every once and a while you will need to check course, and certain events will occur]

When I had gathered what I hoped were proper supplies I boarded the ship and we set off, every few hours Kria required me to ascend to the Crow’s-nest and using the compass he had given me and the lantern I would have to call down how we needed to adjust our course.

As we entered the sea around the isle I noticed a dramatic change, from the instant we could sea the isle the dimensions were somehow warped so that even travelling for hours got us no closer. Several formidable defences were brought against us. I had to de-board and kill a strange snake-headed thing that was striking at us from a rock. I had to slay a flight of Dragon ghosts, scuba-dive below and grapple with a huge Kraken, and finally as we saw that we were near the isle a ship rose up from the deeps…

“Ye gods, it’s the Light of Purity. The Light was the lead ship in the barbarian assault on this isle.” Kria-Zor told me under his breath. “It was crewed by the highest barbarian champions and about thirty warriors from a strange Saradominist cult known as the Purakasi.”

“Can we get by it?” I asked, a slight note of desperation entered my voice.

“Unfortunately not, it looks as if we’ll need to board it, but I fear that if we leave the ship undefended…”

I quickly cut him off; “Say no more. I will go alone, wish me luck!” With those words I sped across the deck and made an almost death defying leap onto the Light. Immediately I found myself in an allout brawl with undead barba¬rian warriors, As I pushed my way through I quickly saw the undead purakasi arranged around the boat, unlike the zombie barbarians these were almost insubstantial ghostly figures, but even that is not adequate, for they had less substance than the meanest ghost, but ever color and every detail was clear and sharp. I pushed my way back and forth across the ship, hunting down each and every one of the ghostly beings. Some were wandering the deck, others were high in the masts, but all thirty were accounted for.

It was then that I heard a scream of rage from across the deck. A being who was clearly an officer of the Purakasi exploded from the captain’s cabin followed by four massive barbarian corpses. I ran across the deck and began to duel with him, it was long and hard, spells of pure light shot from his hands burning holes in my armour, his barbarian champions harried me throughout, but eventually he fell. And as he did a look of peace passed over his eyes and he handed me a journal as his form dissipated…

A few minutes later the ship was docked at the island and Kria-zor leapt from the ship, I followed almost immediately. The sight that met our eyes was aweful and awe inspiring at the same time, the Island had clearly once been a holy place of dark magic, but the twisted corpses of mages and Purakasi littered the shore, the strange stone guardians lay shattered, and symbol-covered shards of broken columns were strewn on the slope of the great volcano.

A great compulsion suddenly gripped both of us, we strode forward up the long steps to the summit. As we walked something amazing happened: the shards flew back together and the columns became whole again, and black fire roared at the peaks. The guardians stood and began to pace their eternal rounds, their wounds healed. But there was something strange, it was almost farcical. The corpses still littered the ground, rubble from some other source was still strewn about, and the entire island felt almost mechanical. But we dismissed our doubts and strode up to the summit, hoping that all would be resolved there…

----------------------------------

On a far away ship a Purakasi scout put down his binoculars. “Commander Kadan, it appears that they are approaching the final mystery, soon, very soon, we will be able to act.”

“Yes lieutenant Daisur, yes.”
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Kria-Zor and I had ascended to the highest part of the island. At first I had thought the island was some dead volcano, but from here I could clearly see that it had been carved and shaped by the power of magic—though whether mundane or divine I could not tell. As we came to the top we found ourselves on a high platform. We stood at the southern end, in the center was a great cavern entrance, and at the edge of the platform in each of the three other cardinal directions and the four ordinal directions sat a unique statue of a dark mage facing outwards. Then I heard a dark whisper in my ears.

“Bear witness to my greatest display of power young one!”

Pain poured into my head and the world went black. I found myself looking, disembodied, from high above the great island mountain. At the very peak, where we ourselves had stood, were seven mages milling around. The tallest of them, a confident man named Aran Farcaster, spoke loudly: “The Light approaches; we must strike or our arts will be lost! Cast the last spell!” At his command all six bowed their heads and confidently formed a ring. In the center of the platform I saw a brass burner lit with dark flames. The men spoke, pouring energy into the flames, energy they themselves were channeling from across the reaches of the globe.

At last the seven stopped. One held up his hand and hissed, “The work is done; let fate take its course. We must make our stand.” With that the seven each turned and faced outwards, lines of flame flooded down the slope and across the water at their commands. As they began the final offensive a veritable cloud of teleportation spells filled the air. The mages had come to protect their masters. Yet even so the Purakasi were not intimidated. Beams of holy light lanced through the air and disintegrated mages, arrows shining in the sun buried themselves in dark-robed chests.

Then it happened, the ground rumbled. The projectiles hurled from both sides were arrested mid-flight and hurled into the seas. From the burner a column of shadow hurled itself into the air. Dark flames spilled across the landscape, yet left the mages unscathed. And then as it struck it burned across the waters and struck the ships with unholy fury. I left it to do its work and turned my attention to the island. The mages stood looking at the new hole in the island.

“We must enter the temple of our new lord. Our lord—“ Said Aran.

“Aldenor!” Spoke the voice on the unhallowed creature. And with that I awoke, both me and Kria-Zor stood, unsure of what had just taken place.
“We must enter the temple.” Kria spoke firmly in a manner that left no question about the matter, not that I disagreed with him in any case. "Unfortunately there appear to be strong wards barring entry. I will send word on swift wings when we have breached the spells.

And so Part III ends...

I stood at the prow of the dark ship, looking gleefully at the great isle ahead. Just yesterday the dark messenger had found me. “The first ward has been breached, you are required,” he had said.

The great ship came smoothly to shore, and I leaped from it onto the rock beach. I barely looked up before I began sprinting at full speed up the great stairs. When I reached the pinnacle I saw Kria, surrounded by several old mages. One of these mages looked at me, apoplectic with rage. “INTRUDER! DIE SCUM!!!” he screamed. He raised his hand and a dark bolt of lightning began to materialize.

“Stop!” the commanding voice of Kria cut through the air. “That is the chosen Shadow-Seeker.”

“But he is not even a dark mage!” objected the old man.

“He was chosen by the wanderer. Do not test our lord!” The old mage quieted. “Come here Callum, the doors will only open for the two of us.”

We stood together and could feel the darkness convalesce. Then we felt it dissipate, but it was not dissolving, it was merely allowing passage. The stone of the platform flowed away from the center, revealing a set of spiral stairs going into the depths. A voice spoke from behind us “Good. You have opened the gates of the temple. I shall reside here now.” We turned and saw the Wanderer nodding happily.

We descended the great spiral stair, As we walked I began to chat with the sea-mage. “Why evil? You mages don’t seem particularly evil, in fact the way you treat each other and uphold your order seems almost entirely consistent with good.”

“Does good allow for the complete separation of all moral inhibitions from the study of magic?”

“No,” I said, somewhat shocked.

“That is why.” And he said no more.

Finally we found ourselves in a great chamber beneath the main temple. As I looked around I saw a page of dusty parchment on the floor nearby. It appeared to be a page from the diary I had found in the Light. It was one entry.

Ire of Phyrrys 17-
It is more than two years since the establishment of the temple. The dark mages do not know I am among them, I see the mage Rakar speaking in the great library. Everyone thinks Aran is the leader, the decider, but I can see the truth. Rakar is the power behind it all. He is a great and pious man, though devoted to a filthy cause. I hope to break the connection, shatter the link to their god. The curse the priest-mages prepared is still trying to take effect, I shall act as the lightning rod! These are my last words.

I looked up, and handed the page to Kria. “Yes, the assault of Hakurin. Without that self righteous idits intervention this temple would never have closed itself. He broke the link between Rakar the Pious and Aldenor. Slowly the temple degenerated, we left, and the other six retreated to their own pasts.”

“Callum, I am bringing mages from the continent to help repair the isle. You and me will try and explore it and open all the holiest sanctums. I am going to take you as my apprentice. The other mages whisper that you are not worthy, but with a full apprenticeship under your belt they will not question you.”

“Where shall we go first Kria?”

“The Grand Library. It is said that the Seven had a wing of the library all their own.”

Kria gestured at me. I felt magic solidify around me and thick, simple, hooded black robes rested upon my shoulders. Kria spoke, “There is no need for a first test as you have already passed the trials of the guardian of the third temple. We must find the entry to this wing!”

Me and Kria prowled through the great library, I noticed that the wanderer was resting in the very center of the central chamber. Finally I noticed that the southwestern corner of the library was a rather ornate alcove composed of five imposing, jet black bookcases.

It was late morning when I entered Varrock via the southern gate. I had camped about an hour north of Seth Groat’s farm and had been walking for about two hours when I passed the sturdy gates. I looked dispassionately at the place where the dark wizards had attempted to summon Aldenor a few weeks ago. I nodded slightly to the high mage meditating within the tainted circle. Then I turned my head and entered the great gates. The two guards looked with awe upon the man who had supposedly been present for the execution of their predecessors. I was incredibly hungry so I ducked into the Blue Moon Inn hoping for a quick bite.

As I entered the bar I saw a man dressed in flashy dark blue robes in one corner. He took a small item from a pouch at his side, held it up in his hand, and transformed it into a pile of coins which he slipped into another pocket. He then looked up, nodded at me, and beckoned me to the table.

[The following dialogue is written with the assumption that Shady Seas has not yet been completed, characters who have delved further into the mysteries of Aldenor will be greeted more respectfully depending on their progress in the parallel story]

“Hello, Callum. I here you’re always looking for a job. I also hear that you aren’t too meek to deal with my kind, the servants Aldenor.”

“You appear to have heard right. You also heard I get the job done well I’m sure.”

“Yes. Call me ‘The Alchemist.’ I work in Aldenor’s name doing some very special business and I need your help.”

“What can I do for you?”

“I just need you to help out a mutual friend: Johnathon Fitzharmon. After the shock he had in the Jolly Boar, he’s staying closer to home. He’s in a room upstairs.”

I soon found myself outside the north gate of Falador with Johnathon. As per his requests I had just been in the city where I had purchased one each of both male and female proselyte armour sets. At his request I donned the male kit and followed him south to the gate. As he approached, a few servant carrying his few possessions, a guardsman strode confidently out to meet him and search the crates. I held up my hand, and the guardsman paled.

“This man enters the city under my authority, understood?” I said softly.

“Yes…sir.”

We entered the city. Johnathon led the way to the house of the Real Estate agent. The agent looked at my armour and quickly fetched the relevant files, had Johnathon sign a few things, and sold him a nice house southeast of the eastern fountain square.

When we arrived at the house Johnathon thanked me and asked me to treat myself to “Fenchurch’s specialty” at the Rising sun. Apparently the alchemist had a tab there. He asked me to come back after enjoying myself.

When I returned after an especially delicious beer I was met by the servant leaning on the door. The man had changed, he was now wearing a fine black silk jacket and trousers. He handed me a package and whispered softly in my ear “Bring it to Narf north of Falador, he’s just up the first steps on the Ice mountain road.”

When I reached the camp of the outlaws I was met with a chuckle from Narf. Narf took the package and chuckled again as he gave me a sack. Suddenly the air seemed to hiss and a bolt knocked the package from my hand and hurled it in another direction. I saw that it was firmly nailed to a tree, and then I watched in stunned silence as a ninja impling appeared and grabbed the sack.

“Good,” said Narf cryptically. “The Alchemist wants you to track the man who fired that bolt, he is an agent of the Hunter.”

“Who is the Hunter?”

“I’m afraid that’s need to know. And not even I need to know.”

Sighing, I searched some bushes in the direction the bolt had arrived from. I found a light trail of footprints. They led me to the stairs and then down past the stairs where they met another pair of feet and three sets of drag marks. Following this distinctive trail I came to the mysterious rocks. As I looked around, I saw with horror the bodies of two squires hurled ignominiously on the ground with bolts buried in their hearts.

As I inspected the bodies for more tracks I found a small note. It read as follows:

Sir Vayer,

You have orders to follow the adventure Callum. I have reason to believe he is colluding with an enemy of the state known as the "Alchemist." The Alchemist is using him in a plot against another enemy of the state known merely as "the Hunter" They are believed to have ties to the Varrock underground. Follow and report, please try to retrieve actionable intelligence on both of the aformentioned enemies of state.

You will be accompanied by Squires Taen and Plous.

-Sir Amik Varze
Commander of the White Knights

I shuddered, then set out following the drag marks. Eventually I came to a cave where a dead white knight stood, frozen in place, the very impling I had seen earlier clutched in his hand. I saw that there was some lumber and a tinderbox near the knight. Grabbing them, I carefully made a small pyre and lit it. Finally the knight melted and the imp came loose. I endeavored to catch it, and finally with my skills managed to pin it to a wall. It spoke in a pitiable whimper, “Big bossman not find nuttin’ much in dat sack, he screamed, said it was all fir nuttin’”

As the imp finished speaking Narf entered the cave. “I’ll deal with the body. Speak to Fenchurch again, It’s too risky to talk to Johnathon.”

And so I found myself in the bar with a mug of Fenchurch’s special mix. I took a long draught and she looked at me with some concern. Then the door to the bar was hurled across the room as a massive knight stormed in followed by Varze himself. I barely had time to move before the man had hurled me to the ground, coughed me and hauled me up. Fenchurch screamed and ran out of the bar in a hurry.

Varze strode up to me calmly and spoke sharply, “You are under arrest for the killing of Sir Vayer, squires Taen and Plous, and treachery.” Sir Lee cuffed the side of my head and I was engulfed by darkness.
A few minutes later, I found myself in a cell in the upper levels of the White Knight castle. Varze stood outside the cell, reclining quite ominously on one of the torture devices. "What have you done Callum! I hoped you were salvageable. You saved my life for Saradomin's sake! But no. You have to do this? We set that man to follow you, and he winds up dead in snowdrift by the wall?"

"I have no idea what you me--"

"Spare me the theatrics. You will meet the interrogator in the morning."

---------------------------------

A few hours later I was woken by a thud outside the door of the Interrogation room, a grunt and then another, different thud that ended with the same thud I had heard before. I heard someone fiddling with the locking mechanism of the door. This was quickly followed by a few curses.

I felt a wriggling in his boot and the tiny impling crawled out. The miniscule creature was pulling a large key. It slipped between the bars of the cell and opened the door from the inside. Three men flooded into the room. Johnathon, the nobleman's son, looked around. He chuckled as he saw the little impling, who promptly buried itself in one of Johnathon's pockets.

The other two were a pair of thugs, one carried a distinctive crossbow and had a phoenix tattooed on his arm. The other carried a wicked blackjack that had fresh blood on it. This man had a black band tattooed around his forearm.

Taking the key the impling had given him, Johnathon unlocked the cell and let me out. Johnathon handed me a teleport tablet and told me firmly to use it. I found myself in an unfamiliar room. The thugs and Jonathan arrived on the wings of magic a few seconds later. Johnathon spoke crisply “Welcome to the illustrious cellar of the Blue Moon Inn.”

A door slammed somewhere, "Did you get him out? The whole city is swarming with knights", I turned my head to look at the newcomer, "Fenny?", there was a loud cracking sound and I felt my teeth getting re-arranged, which only made my headache worse. "Fenchurch, it's not that hard", she sat down at the table in the middle of the room, around it several people were already seated.

"I suppose it's time for some answers" Straven said, and looked just about to say some more, but was interrupted by Katrine "How much do you know?" she said and looked at me. I was at this point slightly confused. "You two, together?", "Well ya, it's easier when the guards are choosing two gangs instead of one" Straven said and shrugged. "You work for them?" I turned to Fenchurch, "More like an affiliate" she said and changed the subject "How much did the Alchemist tell you?"

The conversation was interrupted by loud voices from the other room, "Jeez, I tell you, that Hunter guy is a not human, he's a beast. He will rip us all to pieces.", someone slammed a glass or a mug in the table "Shaddap Dawg, sure he is human, what else should he be? The question is why would he join forces with the White Knights?", "Did you not see the Barbarian Incident?". The conversation silenced...

Straven chuckled, Katrin sighed, and Fenchurch simply looked mildly amused. Fenchurch spoke, "That man by the house--that was me. I'm a deep cover mole for the Alchemist. He wanted to be the first to set up a base in Falador. It's always been the golden goal of the underworld. Rich people with a wall and knights that give them a false sense of security."

"A base of operations?" I inquired.

"The Hunter and the Alchemist are rivals in business. They share a seemingly simple yet extraordinarily lucrative offering. They help set up and network gangs. You think the Phoenix and Black Arms have a rivalry. You should see the wars that the Hunter's gangs wage against the Alchemist's."

Straven and Katrine nodded knowingly. Katrine answered the obvious question. "Both the Black Arm and Phoenix gangs are arms of the Alchemist's criminal empire."

Straven cleared his throat, "unfortunately for you, dear Callum, the Alchemist still requires your assistance. The Hunter is on the move again."

Fenchurch smiled deviously, "But at least you get this for helping us set up the newest and only gang in Falador. The Bloody Magpies." She tossed him a sack, he opened it and found bank-notes that I could exchange for several gold bars, and a nice stack of gold coins.

The Beaked Ones

Lvl: 122/134/141
HP: 100/110/120
Attack Style: Magic, Melee
Weakness: Stab/Earth
Special Abilities: Melee ignores a portion of armour defence
Description: Some of the strangest of dark mages, wooden beaked masks are melded to their faces and their hands have been transformed into hideous claws. They wear the classic dark robes thrown open at the front to reveal the grisly rune burned into their chests during the warping ritual. The most powerful of them also have warped wings that allow them to fly through the air
Location: Blue moon cellar tunnels (lvl 122), Aran’s Loftcastle (all levels)
Examine: It’s a bird, it’s a mage, no its…a bird-mage?
Origin: Created by Aran Farcaster to guide his fort they are slowly spreading around the world, they are victims of a grisly ritual that throws them deep into the maelstrom of dark magic, giving them strange powers and spells


Rune Couriers

Lvl: 92
HP: 100
Attack Style: Magic
Weakness: Ranging
Special Abilities: Can throw a box of runes at you (can only do it once) which hits up to 40 and drains stats
Description: A normal dark mage carrying a crate of runes
Examine: Gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘boombox’
Location: Blue moon cellar tunnels
Origin: They’re just normal dark mages who are smuggling runes from aubury’s shop