The Pandoran Boxes

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Throughout the 3rd age, the Mahjarrat were in their thousands across all of Gielinor, working for various causes and planning deathly strategies for those that served under them. Because they had come from another plane and represented a malicious presence in this world, it was the task of the Arzonus werewolves to deal with them and prevent any more from traversing the portals between worlds.

Even with the first rift inducer sealing the portals to Freneskae completely, Mahjarrat were still abundant in Gielinor, leaving trails of destruction. The Arzonusii prided themselves as warriors who were able to kill the Mahjarrat, some suceeding but their ability to regenerate made it difficult to fully ensure their disposal. Master Pandora designed a device that would allow them to be sealed inside upon defeat, so that when a proper means of killing them was available, the device would be unlocked and the Mahjarrat inside would be killed.

These devices were called Boxes of Oblivion, each fitted with an arsenal of tricks and traps inside to prevent the prisoner from escaping easily. These later were nicknamed the Pandoran Boxes, after the warrior who designed them. Each box was fitted with a small rift inducer that would seal the prisoner in a completely vacant pocket dimension for as long as the box was sealed, and upon opening it, all memories of the time spent would be erased so any plans they had would be lost if they tried to trick their way to freedom. The boxes would also prevent brute force approaches; any force applied to the box to open it would force the pocket dimension to collapse. Someone simply trying to bypass the security by being "clever" would share the box with its prisoner in an even tighter space. The only way to open a Pandoran Box was to have the proper authority to do so.

After the war ended, the Arzonusii retired to their city, leaving all the boxes behind with Mahjarrat still sealed inside them. Some were lost to the natural geology of Gielinor, the Mahjarrat inside being destroyed; others were forced open only for the archaeologist to find nothing inside; whilst some still remain in tact, the Mahjarrat and other monsters awaiting release.

I was planning to do a quest in which one such box is found by the Shadow Apprentices in Morytania. According to the inscriptions on this particular box, it contains Kharshai, a Mahjarrat who mysteriously disappeared long ago. Now with several other Zamorakians moving in to try and open a box that was supposedly lost, the Arzonusii will need to rightfully claim what is theirs.

A Summoning Master in the Third Age was a fine mind, but was utterly insane. Her obsession with the Mahjarrat was uncouth, she studied lore, she followed their tracks and tried all she could to speak to one. Eventually the situation presented itself. A Mahjarrat, with his back turned, felt a large stabbing pain in its back. Pulling out a shaft of strange metal, the Mahjarrat lost all sense of direction and balance under the influence of what must have been a powerful poison.

Awaking, it found itself tied up in restraints built by hands that knew exactly what had to be done. When turning, it felt a large tubular attachment on its neck, draining some blood from various points of its body. The scientist, Master Fou Chapelier, was trying a series of experiments to see if the power of Mahjarrat rejuvenation could be perfected for other species.

Draining it of a great deal of blood, the Mahjarrat became weakened as it bleeding slowly to death. However, Master Chapelier was not an entirely cruel, she made certain some blood was present somewhere. The city was well aware of the project going on, but not of the other works the scientist was carrying out.

Eventually, the Mahjarrat died of ahaemolation and the scientist proceeded to work on the final part of the project, replacing her blood with that of a Mahjarrt, confident of her abilities in combat to hold off the others, particularly with several others at her side. Her project proved successful in its failure. Other species could use the blood of a Mahjarrat to rejuvenate, but ultimately she was sacrificed and her death rejuvenated the Mahjarrat that time round.

One last experiment remained. The test subject was an abomination created by one scientist's interest becoming profoundly moreso than theoretical and of a Mahjarrat's inability to resist.

Because the circumstances were wrong on so many levels, you can see why research and all information was destroyed.

Hmm, certainly sounds interesting! However, we know for a fact that under 50 Mahjarrat were around during the Third Age. In fact, if I'm correct, under 25 is more exact.

Doesn't seem too important in that regard though, so I'm interested in where you're going with this.

So, since the Kharshai imposter is a hybrid of a Mahjarrat and a Werewolf, how should he look.

I figured that he'd still resemble a Mahjarrat, but would have sharper teeth and, unlike the others who sport grey skin, his would be slightly tan to match his mother's fur colour with the markings being dark brown.

But one feature that is prevalent in werewolves, usually regardless of what form they're in is the digitigrade foot. Of course, you can't see it all to obviously if they are wearing boots, so this would conceal Kharshai's feet.

Well, Mahjarrat are Shape-changers, so he could look however he likes.

Okay, here are some story ideas featuring our Mahjarrat Hybrid, however only one can be chosen.

1. The Shadow Apprentices need the hybrid to restore the Darkfield Outcrop before it falls into the ocean forever, by undoing Raizahka's work using her own song. In order to achieve this, he has to kidnap Sister Cecilia to use her singing talent the frequency needed to undo the temporal trap around the Darkfield rocks set up by Raizahka.

2. The hybrid has a plan to use the Darkfield Rocks to force the werewolf to shift involuntarily, unleash them on the unsuspecting human world and cause them more problems. The player needs to thwart the attempt by finding the imminently shifting werewolves and bring them into contact with moonstone to counteract the shifting into Ulfhednar form.

3. In a bid to try and slow down the hybrid and make it expose a weakness, they try to coax out the werewolf inside to override the Mahjarrat abilities.

BUT the following must remain;
1. Donicus Whitearrow must be slowly sapped of life whilst the hybrid is out of the Pandoran Box.
2. The dark matter crystal in the rift inducer contains the part keeping the hybrid alive via unnatural means.

The Militia is on red alert; suspicious activty has drawn Donicus Whitearrow back to Morytania with reports of Shadow Apprentice activity taking place. Following the tracks, Donicus and the player have been led into a trap. The Shadow Apprentices force them to open the Pandoran Box, a vessel containing a criminal suspended in time and space until such a means of destroying them was made. The being inside, calling himself Kharshai, leaves the box and plans his next assault.

Mos'le Harmless is the first location to be attacked, but only some ships are taken. Mentor Libra begisn looking through some very old intel on Kharshai, but is staggered to see the description of the Kharshai in the militia files on the Mahjarrat is completely different to the Kharshai that was released from the box, prompting further investigation.

"Kharshai" has struck again, pinpointing a number of citizens across RuneScape, seemingly at random. However, on closer inspection it is revealed that they are all werewolves from Arzonus keeping an eye on the human world one of which is Mentor Pisces who was doing some work at the time on another ship. This is when Kharshai releases his threat, the werewolves can shift at will thanks to the moonstone, but part them from that, they shift. Worse still, he plans to unleash them at the next full moon in the population centres they monitor. Whilst his threat may seem arbitrary, Kharshai sends the threat attached to a stone, a piece of Darkfield rock, the counteract for moonstone and forces werewolves to shift into the bloodthirsty Ulfhednar at full moon.

The full moon rises and the werewolves begin to shift into the Ulfhednar. The player has but moments to get them to wear the moonstone to counteract the darkfield rock. However, it is still too late as Mentor Pisces already completes her shift into an Ulfhednar and has to be neutralised. The battle is bloody, but eventually she is able to be reverted for her own safety. She says that "Kharshai" wanted to carry out this threat for two reasons, create a new enemy out of an ally so that the world will be distracted and as demonstration for the bigger thing to come.

When delivering the news back to the city, Donicus slowly finds himself unable to carry on. His condition was deteorating after opening the box, but now his state is critical. He tries to attend, but is getting too weak. Eventually, the study on the Pandoran Boxes draws out a result, the Mahjarrat in the box was not Kharshai. His real name is Tavish Caledier, the son of a Mahjarrat and a werewolf, Master Fou Caledier.

Master Caledier was studying the Mahjarrat in great detail in order to better understand the process of the Ritual. She managed to capture a decidedly weak Mahjarrat and proceeded to study him. Eventually, the Ritual came around and she drained the blood of her Mahjarrat specimen, replaced her own blood with it and attended the Ritual, only to be sacrificed herself and the others to be rejuvenated. However, her studies were not just out of theoretical interest, but out of a worrying fetish. In an old slice of information, she also wrote that at one point tried to test to see if Mahjarrat could interbreed with other species, volunteering herself to be the mate. She did give birth before the Ritual and the child was named Tavish.

After her death, Tavish was ostracised by Arzonus because of the Mahjarrat lineage and was also rejected by the Mahjarrat because he wasn't pure of blood. Unable to find sanctum in his own identity, he sought out his nearest blood relative, an uncle on his father's side, Kharshai. Forcing his uncle into hibernation, Tavish assumed his full identity and took part in the Ritual to become even stronger. Still rejected by both kinds, the Shadow Apprentices found Tavish and recruited him within their own ranks. Arzonus spent years trying to destroy him, but couldn't find the means of killing him, so sealed him inside a Pandoran Box.

Mentor Libra decides to accompany you and Donicus in trying to take down Tavish as this is unfinished business. Tavish delivers another threat, claiming to bring back the Darkfield Outcrop and attack Arzonus directly with the corrupted stone. The Abbey of St. Elspeth is then victim of Tavish's offensive as Cecilia is abducted.

The Darkfield Outcrop was a large cluster of cursed stone that grew from the ocean floor. Tavish once controlled it and planned an attack with it during the God Wars, but Raizahka was able to sink it and suspend it in a temporal trap using one of the most unsuspected methods used, she used song. Tavish now wants to cause the outcrop to rise again, using Cecilia to sing the right frequency to unbind the trap.

It now becomes more clear, the Shadow Apprentices released Tavish when recent activty epicentering at Senntisten caused the earth to tremor, causing the outcrop to be put in grave danger of being lost forever. When the process begins to cause the otucrop to rise, nothing happens, even with the frequency being sung and played correctly on the ship's organ. However, Mentor Libra states that there is more to the melody than what meets the eye. It wasn't solely Raizahka seeing to the sinking of the outcrop, but also Saradomin played a part in as well, seeking also the defeat of the Mahjarrat enemy. Also attending was St. Elspeth, who wrote the melody that sunk the outcrop, using her lyre, which is the missing piece of the puzzle. This is when the song of Moonstone becomes altogether more confusing. In order to shift the rock, three complimentary melodies had to be played, one through voice, one through string and the final through the organ, and the melodies would all be present of the respective instruments.

Engraved on the organ, the lyre and appearing on a birthmark on Cecilia are the respective parts of the song. Mentor Libra begins playing the organ, whilst Mentor Pisces plays the lyre and Sister Cecilia sings, gradually bringing the rock to the surface. Tavish then tries to attack them so he can take it for his own, but the player fends him off the musicians. When the outcrop reaches the surface, Mentor Libra plans to use the melody to destroy the outcrop for good, but the organ is damaged before the melody can finish, but Cecilia still has a plan. She requests the lyre and what's left of the organ tom play as she then prepares the One Piercing Note. The note is sung at such a frequency that the Darkfield outcrop screams as it begins to shatter and fall into the ocean.

As the outcrop shatters and deteriorate, Tavish feels weakened suddenly, whilst Donicus' fever washes away slightly. Still weakened, but in less of a critical state, Donicus Whitearrow tries to fight off Tavish, only to end up being captured and taken away. It's at this stage, Maya has finally found something important in the archives. In a journal written by Master Elora Magnus, she details something called a mortal vessel, a means of preserving vitality. It is now believed that the outcrop was part of Tavish's mortal vessel and was being used to preserve the majority of his Mahjarrat vitality. With it destroyed, his powers are diminishing. But that isn't all. Each Pandoran Box is fitted with something known as a Mortal Incentive; a design that affects Donicus Whitearrow at this moment. In order to ensure that the beings inside the box were killed, opening the box would cause the one to open it to slowly have their life sapped away. As the occupant becomes weaker, the connection breaks. But since this wasn't a complete execution, the cycle with now speed up, meaning Donicus only has hours to live.

This must mean that another mortal vessel must be near. Tavish is now becoming irrational now that a great deal of his Mahjarrat vitality is ebbing away; despite the two species being able to create offspring, the two anatomies are almost completely incompatible, with the werewolf slowly beginning to neutralise the Mahjarrat. Now it all relies on bringing familiar objects to Tavish, forcing the werewolf to completely take over and then seeing which he tries to defend. The player now gets themselves captured by Tavish's forces and is pitted in the arena to fight for their entertainment, keeping Tavish occupied. In between battles, the player is able to deliver a message to Donicus, instructing him to force the darkfield crystal, that was attached to the note and to each of the abducted werewolves, into contact with Tavish to provoke the werewolf nature. Seeing as Donicus is predominantly Kitsune (which finally lays to rest the question, why does Donicus have two tails), he is unaffected by darkfield rock.

The trap is set and seems to work as Tavish's werewolf nature kicks in. In one rampage, he throws aside his allies in search for a specifically dark coloured crystal, throwing all others aside as he begins to panic. This can only mean one thing from his behavour, the mortal vessel Tavish made is a darkmatter crystal, one that used to belong to a pendant worn by his mother and presumably is inside the Pandoran box. Work begins to take apart the box and find the crystal to destroy it.

However, Tavish is getting desperate. His vitality is diminishing and his absense from the Ritual Site has left him badly drained now that the Darkfield crystals have gone. Normally Mahjarrat could survive on RuneScape even when missing up to two Rituals. As he is only part Mahjarrat, he needs to be present without excuse in order to survive. He and Freya (a Shadow Apprentice that frequently appears from the beginning) now plan to try and attack Arzonus directly to acquire the Master Rift Inducer from the lab and open micro portal to Freneskae and force a ritual on his own terms. When you're able to relay this information back to Arzonus, Mentor Pisces unleashes the attack, breaking you free in the process.

It now becomes a heated battle to find Tavish and put and end to this madness once and for all, but Donicus' condition now becomes very dangerous. After sinking a few of the fleet, Tavish now accepts the players challenge and initiates combat. After a fierce battle, Tavish prepares to cut the player down entirely, but Donicus is able to summon the last of his strength to cast a curse on Tavish that would normally kill another creature, but only forces Tavish to retreat. Now, Donicus' life is on the brink, but either by fate or dumb luck, Maya finds the crystal and destroys it.

The spells is broken. Tavish, having been absent from the Ritual for so long now rapidly ages, clinging to Freya. As his faces melts away into the nothingness she recoils in horror, falling from the upper deck of the ship, breaking her neck as Tavish crumbles to dust. Donicus, now fully recovered returns to duty and the player is thanked personally by Mentor Libra, who awards the player Tavish's robes, a Freneskaen warhammer and gives him the ashes so he can decided what to with them.