Sewer or Later (Sliske vs Terra)

"Back some time ago, I, Terra Maelstrom, went on my first expedition at the tender age of just 15 years. Having grown up in the small village of Draynor, adventure was something hard to come by. This was the Year 130 of the Fifth Age, so we were in a reasonable amount of turmoil, but no one stood up the challenge as often as they do now. Here is how I became one of the first of great modern adventurers." - Terra Maelstrom

"Sewer or Later" is an NPQ (non-player quest), where the player takes on the role of Terra Maelstrom. Through this quest, you will relive his finest moment, back when he was just a youngster.

To start this quest, simply look into the old journal on the desk of Terra's study in Arzonus, it will not be readable until the requirements are completed. This will drop you into the backstory behind Terra's past.

"The Wizard's tower was burnt down in the year 70 of the current age. Before that point, humans were trusted as one of our own when they opened trading routes for rune supplies since the beginning. Unfortunately, priests and holymen became too greatly interwoven into the communities of magic and began imposing zealous and biased rulings on even innocent magic users. The foundings of their evidence were based on nothing more than the demands of the church of Saradomin that only today, we truly understand.

When Runelore was mostly destroyed in the blaze, the prices of runes skyrocketted. Arzonus was then thrown into a bitter turmoil that lasted decades. Humans were still allowed, but because of extortionate black markets dealing with runes, trust was beginning to wither. At one stage, some Saradominist priests tried to infiltrate wizarding circles of Arzonus as a means of trying to impose their mark on the city and "punish the scourge". This led to humans being expelled, but for some it was never enough. This began the likes of pure-blood riots, that seeked to drive out those that "spoiled" pure wolf blood by mating with humans.

At the time of the riots, my mother, Rose Stone, was forced to leave for Draynor, taking me with her fearing I would be human."

The quest starts with Terra Maelstrom, as a younger version of himself, awaking in Draynor. His mother calls him downstairs and tells him he is in big trouble, again. You will see displayed on the wall that he has taken her clean sheets and painted all over them. Looks like you'll have to clean up.

Visit the house of Bettie the Witch (what is now Aggie's house) and try and ask for some cleaning fluids and she'll give you some if you provide the ingredients (which will be available in Terra's bank). After you provide the cleaning fluid, hand it over to Rose who will ask you to clean away the painting, but a knight will knock at the door. It is time for Terra to report to the Kinshra training order (at this point of history, the Kinshra are still held with strong regards as warriors who value pure power).

Collect some weaponry and supplies from the bank and follow the Kinshra valet. Arriving in Castle Falador, Terra will begin some training. At this point, the character can come to terms with Terra's combat capabilities;
1550 Life Points (Just a healthy growing lad, apparently)
75 Attack
70 Strength
72 Defence
50 Range (not my best skill, to be honest)
80 Mage (thanks to an heirloom, the Lightning Staff)
80 Prayer (some prayers present are of both Saradomin and Arzonusian charms, just something his mother taught him)

The instructor will test Terra on his capabilities. This just simply involves hitting the summoned targets as they come with the most suitable method (in accordance to the combat triangle). Once accomplished, Terra will now face a giant knight (although this is clearly a man on stilts).

All would go well until Terra senses something strange. Unable to understand what it is, he finds time to be distorted as is able to see the knight move before it even has. Use this to avoid the attacks as best as you can (the prediction will appear paler than the actual knight and deals no damage, only the tue blow does). At some point, you will see a weak point appear within a prediction, tackle it and the training session will be over.

The instructor is speechless. Terra not only fights the knight skilfully, but also strikes a weak point moments before it was even exposed, meaning his attack hit it at just the right time. With the test completed, the instructor pulls Terra aside and asks how it was done.

"I couldn't exactly explain what it was. It was if the knight had split into two and what the paler knight did, the real knight would do soon after. I know it now to be precognition, seeing an event before it occurs. The Kinshra instructor simply thought I hadn't enough sleep and sent me home early, saying he would see to me later."

Returning home, Rose will have kept the image of the sheets, waiting for you to arrive. She will ask what you did today, but don't tell her about the events where you predicted the knight's movements, it'll worry her. She will send you to rest as the instructor claims you were overworked. Looking at the image painted on the sheet, it just simply looks like a skull with a snake emerging from its gaping and cerated mouth.

"This image was enough to make anyone go mad. It was, to most people, just gothic. The funny thing is, I don't ever remember painting it."

That evening, Terra will go to sleep and appear in a dank and unpleasant cavern. The image is foggy at best, but follow Terra's instinct and go into the darkness.

Up ahead, a figure, hooded and cloaked, will place its face against the wall of the cavern and whisper something to it. The bricks fold away to reveal a corridor, which the figure passes through. Terra will find himself unable to do anything but try and move steadily closer.

"And there it was, this gap in the wall. The tunnel beyond was far different than that of the surrounding tunnel. Try as I might, I couldn't get a clear look of the man's face. I am certain it was a man, it spoke in a masculine voice, but it sounded like it was hissing and had swallowed something wet."

Following the path, you find it to be made of ornate marble, bones of many creatures scattered across the place. At the furthest point, it becomes dark and you are unable to see what is going on. A piercing gaze falls on you and Terra wakes up.

Terra has overslept! He's late for his training with the Kinshra. At training, Terra will be ganged up on Sulla, Daquarius and Iban. Calling Terra a freak for his exemplary performance the previous day, they'll proceed to fight you and steal Terra's staff.

"This threesome lived to bully the likes of me, the times I've encountered them since, it reassures me to know they all suffered similar fates."

Sulla is not terrifically strong, but the likes of Iban and Daquarius will do everything to get your attention away from Sulla whilst you fight him. He will occasionally heal during combat, but never a high amount, you won't have food, but most likely you won't need it. Once Sulla has been defeated, Iban will throw dirt in Terra's face and Sulla will attempt to steal Terra's lightning staff. Terra, finds himself unable to control himself at this stage, moving faster than he does normally throws Dacquarius across the courtyard, hurls Iban against a wall whilst striking Sulla across the upper body with almost animal anger to get the staff back. Before a Elite Mage is called in to hold Terra back, he leaves a parting gift for Sulla, a fierce burning scar across his face with the lightning staff.

"Sulla's most distinguishing feature was that scar, he'll always remember it as the day he just escaped!"

After the conflict, Terra's status as an initiate comes under question, some of the Kinshra commanded he be expelled whilst others believing he should remain as his potential in combat is obvious from the final exam. He is sent home to think about what he's done.

Arriving home, Rose Stone finds another painting, an exact image of Terra's dream the night before. She scolds Terra and tells him to get a potion from the resident witch in order to clean the canvas again and this time get a really potent potion that makes it easier to clean. The ingredients for the potion include charcoal, which Terra can get from the market.

"Back in those days, Draynor didn't have much more money than it does now, not without the arrival of the Old Man you see these days. We simply traded what we had for what we needed. Simple, but it was painstakingly annoying as there was always the issue of chain-trades, until we got what we wanted."

After trading a variety of items and doing some favours, Terra will get his hands on the charcoal needed to complete the potion. Before making it to the witch's house, Terra will black out. When he comes to, he finds that with the charcoal, he has sketched another image into the ground. This time the image is of the hooded figure from the dream, only this time his face is visible. The face is shown to be withered, almost like the flesh has worn itself thin, the eye sockets appearing somewhat empty and even the nose appears flattened.

"This figure was fairly intimidating. Having seen it in my dreams before, I wasn't frightened, but the Draynorians? They really were a superstitious bunch."

With the remaining charcoal, brew the potion and hand it over to Rose. She'll give you some good news regarding the issue that happened during the day. The Kinshra will not expel Terra, as a well-known adventurer is willing to take Terra on as an apprentice. Terra's ability would be valuable to this slayer.

During that evening, Terra is woken up by voices being heard outside his window during the rain. Peering through it, Terra sees a person in hooded attire walking towards the sewers behind his house and opening the valve without needing to even touch it. The figure turns towards Terra and the face is an uncanny resemblance to the face drawn from charcoal. Believing the figure to be looking at him, Terra hides away, but then notices that the figure was simply noticing the charcoal drawing done on the ground earlier on.

"The hooded man walked over to my drawing, he seemed to take a liking to it or so I believed. He pulled his hood down and carried on into the sewers."

The next morning, everyone will have clamoured into the streets to meet the slayer who intends to take on Terra as his apprentice. Dr. Harlow (at this point in history not yet overly taken to drink) is currently busy talking to his admiring fans in Draynor about his adventures. After answering a few questions, Terra will wish to speak to Dr. Harlow, who will find himself very pleased to meet his new apprentice. Ask Dr. Harlow about some of the questions Terra has;
1. Have you ever dealt with deadly reptiles?
2. Do some of the monsters you face a deadly gaze?
3. Say I was to find one such creature, how would I go about fighting it?

However, do not ask questions regarding the mysterious figure or about seeing the future, as these will not yield any answers. Growing interested about your eagerness regarding creatures of this type, Dr. Harlow will ask to speak to you after the meeting.

After the meeting, head into Draynor Sewers once you have Dr. Harlow with you and show him where you saw the hooded figure and explain as to what you saw in Draynor sewer. Intrigued by the proposal you show, Dr. Harlow will ask of you to speak more of the language the figure uttered.

"And so I began to speak the language. I could hear the pipes creaking and dust feel from the ceilingas if something was moving as I spoke. What I had seen in my dreams was true!"

Dr. Marlow will be most interested and wish to study more about what is going on. He'll ask you to join his studies. He'll wish to head somewhere quiet like Lumbridge castle to do some research.