 August 2020 |
Issues of the Questaholic Magazine | October 2020 |
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Bulletin - September 2020
Hey everyone,
It’s time for your monthly bulletin from Clan Council. I’d like to start off by thanking Evilphan for her time as Questaholic head editor. The magazine needed to be rebooted and you delivered that. That is no small feat, thank you so much. Going forward Choto will be assuming the role of head editor.
Editors team revamp:
This month in concert with the magazine we’ll be undertaking a wider content creation push. The first thing many of you think of when you see Clan Quest is our guilds in the games of RuneScape, Old School RuneScape, and Rocket League. This month we’re taking that a step further and bringing Clan Quest to the wider internet community by amping up our content creation efforts.
This new approach has already proven its worth when at the tail end of July, RuneScape released the Desperate Measures quest. This quest was played on launch day by many of our members but what also happened was truly amusing and entertaining. A handful of Clan Quest members including Questcaping, Miss Alaska, Pop, and ILikeSlayer amongst others voice acted Desperate Measures while Questcaping played the quest livestreamed it to Twitch!
You can find the replay of the quest in segments uploaded to YouTube. Mod Raven even appeared in chat and trolled our members. Give the video a watch, a like, and be sure to subscribe to the channel. This also led to a resurgence of the Clan Quest Twitch account which is now being used to livestream our minigame events. You can find that at twitch.tv/clanquest.
This is just the first example of an approach where we let the content speak for itself. To that end we’ve created a new #content-creators Discord channel. On top of that, into September we’ll have some useful website changes to make the website more readable and we’ll be providing a new landing page for those looking to join Clan Quest. If you’re interested in giving us a hand or you’re a content creator who thinks you could help (or need help!), reach out to us in Clan Council!
I hope everyone has had a good summer (or winter) and is doing well. If you ever have any questions about the clan or have an idea for a project you’d like to make happen, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. :)
~Shane for Clan Council
Article by Shane
QUESTAHOLIC PRESENTS
An interview with my neighbour ViNightshade
by Vi's neighbour Choto.
<::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::}]xxxx()o
GENERAL
What are you currently studying?
I am studying to be a Math Teacher. I started this year and am really loving it! I have been teaching on and off for a few years now and decided to make it something official.
What do you do for a living?
I am studying, teaching math to high school students, and playing Runescape.
Which are your favourite childhood cartoons?
Calvin and Hobbes!
If you could have any super power other than invincibility, what would you choose and why?
I would love to have the power to speak, read, write and understand any language! Proper communication is the base of making a better world.
What are your favourite outdoor activities?
It used to be playing American Football, lately it has been to go to restaurants and try out different types of food.
Which is your favourite movie?
The Lord of the Rings (LotR) trilogy hands down. I still remember watching them all with my family when I was but a wee lad. I did not understand some of english, none of the elvish, but I had recently read the books and they were my first introduction to my first love: Fantasy.
Which is your favourite book?
Even though the LotR franchise opened me up to Fantasy and I love it, I have two favorite book series: The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini and The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan. The Inheritance Cycle shows exactly how I view Magic and how it should work, while Robert Jordan’s work into all of his books created a whole universe for me to spend many an afternoon reading up on.
What sort of music and artists do you listen to?
Lately not much, but I enjoy listening to various types of Metal. Examples would be Behemoth, Hate, Veld, Aborted, Decapitated, Babymetal (YES I WROTE BABYMETAL), and Oracles.
Which books would you recommend?
I have not read much recently, but am currently reading a book titled “Aprendiendo a Pensar” (Learning to Think). It is a book about teaching kids from elementary to high school how to think logically and analytically, as well as how to incorporate this to your normal teaching sessions.
What's your favourite type of food?
As an ex sushi chef, I have to say pizza!
Do you prefer mom's food or restaurant food?
I prefer when my mother and I cook restaurant food together, but better :P
GAMING
Which are your favourite games?
Magic: The Gathering, Runescape, Warcraft III, and sometimes League of Legends (don’t play LoL anymore)
What are your favourite video game genres?
RPG’s - I love going to a new world and seeing other people’s perceptions and views of mythology, fantasy, world building, and narration.
Which was the most difficult video game you ever beat?
I like playing games that don’t end, so I could say I have never beat a game before(?) The closest I got to completing a game 100% was Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, where I got to like 94% game completion.
When playing with friends, do you prefer video games or tabletop games, and why do you prefer one over the other?
I prefer tabletop, as Magic: The Gathering is my favorite card game to play with friends. The Commander format, which is basically a board game version of Magic, is my favorite way to play Magic. Playing Magic physically with my friends is the best way to learn about new cards and strategies!
What's the toughest thing you've ever accomplished in a video game?
Accepting that I suck at them.
RUNESCAPE
What's your favourite skill?
Magic! I got 200mil Magic at the same time as I got 99 on my other combat skills.
What's your favourite quest?
The Myreque Quest series - I loved the story so much I actually trained skills I hate to get the requirements for the Quest.
When did you start playing?
I started playing RS3 about two years ago. Before that, I played the original, 2D version of runescape when I was a smol little child.
What was your very first accomplishment cape?
My 120 Magic cape!!
You get 30 seconds of full attention from all employees of Jagex. What do you say?
Make a better way to get players into PvM - turn the PvM Hub into a place where players get introduced into the tick system, how ability rotations work, and why it’s important to know these things to get into bossing. Also, I love this game and the work you guys put into it. Don’t ever let your passion for Runescape die down!
You get a ticket to visit Gielinor IRL. Where do you go first?
This is hard to answer. I would love to be able to visit the Snaguinesti Region without getting eaten by the Vyrewatch. Seeing as how that is unlikely, I think I would go to the Lunar Isle. Baba Yaga must have some crazy stories to tell!
GENERAL PART 2
What are your biggest dreams in life?
To make my small part of changing this world for the better, by teaching the new generations to come how to think positively and that their individual role in this world DOES MATTER. Yes, it’s corny as hell, but I firmly believe it to be so.
What's your favourite sport?
My favorite sport is American Football. I used to be in a team playing as Defensive End and Linebacker, although I took an arrow to the knee and had to stop playing many years ago.
If you could have any 3 animals in the world (only real animals, no fictional), which would you pick?
A Mimikyu, an Absol, and a Sylveon. POKEMON ARE REAL IN MY KOKORO OK
If you had to give up one of your senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste) which one would you pick?
Taste, I don’t need to taste to keep being a good teacher.
[Editor's note: What if you have an exceptionally bad taste on authors, EH?!]
How would you describe yourself to others?
I’m a fun person to hang around with, but I will turn most conversations into a teaching session about something.
What is your most used item in your daily life?
My coffee mug!
If I were to visit your country, what do you think I should do first?
Leave all your expensive items in a safety deposit box.
What are your favourite cities/locations, both in RS and in real life?
In Runescape, it has got to be the PvM hub. In the real world, my bedroom. My whole life’s work is in there.
Do you have a motto or a favourite phrase? If so, which is it?
“Mathematics is a universal language that translates science and nature to our understanding.” I made it up right now.
Do you play an instrument? If not, which instrument/s would you like to learn?
I do not, I would love to learn to play the drums.
Tell us the story behind your name!
ViNightshade is short for Violetta Nightshade, which is the name Vanescula gave me when I became part of the Myreque. I simply loved it and kept it!
How many languages do you speak? Which one would you like to learn?
My native language is Spanish, and I speak English fluently. I would love to learn Japanese, Latin, and German.
If you had to escape your country immediately, what's the one thing you'd take with you?
My Magic: The Gathering cards. They are the one thing that cannot be replaced, as most of them have stories behind them.
Who is the one clannie you really miss?
Tyco Elf, I don’t see him as much anymore :c
What's your first memory of the clan?
Meeting Tyco Elf for the first time! We talked for hours about I don’t even remember what anymore!
Coffee or tea?
Coffee <3
Which is the most interesting God? Why?
I guess it’s Zaros, as his travels and things he has learned through them are super interesting. While I do not wholeheartedly agree with his way of thinking, I do admire how he civilized the Vampires in Vampyrum and turned them into the present day Vampires we know now.
Best thing about Clan Quest?
All the new friends I have met!
BACK TO CHOTO
How do you feel knowing that I’m superior to you just because I’m argentinean and you’re chilean?
It’s hilarious because it means your nose is huge.
Do you know Uruguay is a rebel province that actually belongs to us? Is Chile a rebel province too?
I did not know that about Uruguay. Chile has been rebellious since the beginning!
Do you like football? Did you enjoy when your national team beat us like three times in a row in three different American Cups?
I don’t like football (soccer) and don’t follow it, so I had no idea about that lol.
When will you make time to come visit me?
When I have the money to <3
Do sushi and maths go well with each other?
Yes, because I can eat sushi with one hand and solve math problems with the other.
Why do we keep talking to each other in english?
Because the community is based on the english language :p If we were to voice chat, it would be in spanish though hehehe
[Editor's note: You were meant to say that we were sophisticated and cultured people, or something like that >:( ]
Can you explain to our fellow clannies what does weon mean?
So, weon actually has like a million definitions depending on the context and the connotation you use when you say it. “Weon, el weon weon, weon!” actually means: “Dude, that guy is a dumbass, dammit!” You can use it as a general expression for most things. As a matter of fact, when we don’t remember the actual word for something, we just replace it with “la wea”.
How much of a math nerd are you?
Not as much as I would like to be, seeing as how I still haven’t watched all the videos from the Youtube channel Numberphile.
What is the meaning of life?
Personally, it is to find what makes you feel happy and whole, and use that to make life better for you and our society.
Article by Choto 3000
Grand Strategy games series.
Chapter one: Introduction.
Hoods, noobs, your favourite editor here.
What I bring you today is the result of a growing interest about Grand Strategy games, specially those developed by Paradox Interactive. There are six games we'll be covering in this series, and every single one of them is so complex and different from the rest that it would be an overkill to have them all featured in one go. I haven't played all of them, so I've had to scout for writers. Some of these writers I mentioned have plunged a great number of hours and dedication to the games (With a mild exception that I'm gonna call Questcaping; you'll see why), and that will provide you with a complete summary of a rare brand of an amazing set of videogames. I hope you all enjoy the articles that will appear in this magazine from today to the first months of next year.
So what does a "Grand Strategy" game entail? You need to imagine yourself as a ruler. As a ruler, you need to manage resources, and/or appoint others to do so. Eventually, it all comes down to who has the biggest army, but it doesn't get as easy as that. Arguably, the best aspect of Paradox's games (excluding Stellaris), is the possibility to "play" history. That's right! For all of you that enjoy throwing unnecessary history facts and feel frustrated when no one laughs with Roman Empire meme dumps, you've come to the right place!
The second big and amazing fact of Paradox's games is the possibility to play all the way through the year 304 B.C to the Second World War. Furthermore, if you have modded your games, you can play up to the contemporary era and beyond! And, of course, adding to all those years, you can finish your grand campaign by playing Stellaris, with a start date set on the year 2200 A.C.
There is, however, a huge downside and immense deterrent for new (and even veteran) players: Your wallet will suffer. The base games are not really expensive, but you literally can't play without DLC's (or expansions), and those things do get expensive. Steam shows the value on argentinean pesos for me, so I'll make a raw calculation to give you a somewhat accurate look on how much you'd have to spend to acquire all games with all their DLC's.
*maths things in progress*
Ugh, nevermind, I checked in Humble Bundle. No discounts applied, you'd have to spend around 540 USD to get the whole franchise. Note that this includes unnecessary content like sprite packs or customisations, but it's still quite a lot of money.
Don't fall into despair though! There are always good deals and mega-sales! I managed to grab both Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II with all DLC's for just about 20 USD.
These are the games we'll cover in the upcoming issues:
- Imperator: Rome (304 - 27 B.C)
- Crusader Kings II (769 - 1453 A.C)
- Europa Universalis IV (1444 - 1821 A.C)
- Victoria II (1836 - 1936 A.C)
- Hearts of Iron IV (1936 - 1948 A.C)
- Stellaris (2200 A.C onwards)
Each game (excepting Stellaris, again) develops in crucial years that made up the history books we all learnt from. You have the chance to see and play in a "What would've happened if..." universe. Are you going to take the opportunity?
Article by Choto
Greetings friends, and welcome to the first edition of what is likely to be a semi-regular series in Questaholic (read: I'll do it whenever I can be bothered, or whenever Choto yells at me to do it): Xurdones Reviews! It’s not a terribly original name, is it? I’ll work on that, or I won’t, but in the meantime it tells you everything you need to know: I’m Xurdones, and I’m gonna review stuff. First on the docket is Clue, the 1985 comedy whodunnit (there’s a genre mash-up you don’t see very often) based on the Hasbro board game of the same name, which was released as Cluedo in Europe. The game was released as Cluedo, that is, not the film. I'm sure this won't get confusing.
Our main characters are the game’s iconic characters: Miss Peacock (played by the late Eileen Brennan), Mrs. White (the late Madeline Kahn), Professor Plum (Christopher Lloyd), Mr. Green (Michael McKean), Colonel Mustard (Martin Mull), and Miss Scarlet (Lesley Ann Warren). Each of the six have a dark secret - Plum is a former psychiatrist who had an affair with a patient, Peacock has been taking bribes on behalf of her politician husband, and so on - which they are being blackmailed over, hence the pseudonyms. All of this is related by the butler, Wadsworth (an original character played by the inimitable Tim Curry), who claims to have summoned them to this stately manor house so they can expose their tormentor to the police.
Said tormentor himself, Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving, and I swear that’s not a joke, or at least not my joke), soon appears with a different proposition. He gifts each of the six one of the iconic weapons from the game (a revolver, a lead pipe, a noose, a knife, a candlestick, and a heavy wrench), and suggests they kill Wadsworth. After all, he says, if he’s arrested all of their dark secrets will be exposed. But if Wadsworth were to disappear, they could tell the police that the whole thing was a misunderstanding, and waltz away with nobody the wiser. To sweeten the deal, Boddy turns off the lights, so nobody will have to see who really did it.
In a totally unexpected twist, that nobody could possibly have seen coming, it’s instead Mr. Boddy dead on the floor when the lights are brought back up, and so begins the central mystery: who killed Mr. Boddy? This proves to be a deceptively difficult question to answer, partly because his body is discovered in a new location nobody could have moved it to, but an answer is urgently needed: the police have been summoned (by Wadsworth, to collect Mr. Boddy prior to his death), and will be arriving soon. More murders occur as the seven investigate: the cook, the French maid, a passing motorist, a police officer checking on that motorist, and finally a singing telegram girl.
For my younger readers, “telegrams” were sort of like emails if there was only one computer in a hundred miles, and it’s owner had to deliver them the rest of the way. For my even younger readers, “emails” were like text messages but you sent them from computers. For my still younger readers, “text messages” were like TikToks except...I’m getting sidetracked. Back to the film.
Eagle-eyed Questaholics will recognize Clue as one of my favourite movies, as revealed in the interview I gave in the August 2020 issue, but it was generally poorly-received at the time. Noted film critic Roger Ebert, for example, gave it two-out-of-four stars at release, and it didn’t break even at the box office. In my professional opinion as an expert film review person (shut up, I am), there are three main reasons for this, which are incidentally some of the reasons I like it.
Firstly, the film had a gimmick that makes it close to unique: it has three endings, with a different person revealed to be the killer in each of them. That’s not unique in itself, Wayne’s World did that as a joke in 1992, among others. What’s more unique is that, in a bid to encourage repeat viewings, theatre-goers only got to see one of the three at a time. It was an inventive idea, but flawed. For one thing, the endings are just not equally satisfying; they’re all plausible within the context of the film, but wrap up the film and its subplots to varying degrees. For another thing, and this was almost certainly beyond the influence of the filmmakers, which ending you saw was determined by which city you saw it in. In a time when there might only be one theatre in a city, if that, it was quite a burden to ask people to get in their cars and drive for half an hour just to see what they missed.
This was fixed for the home video release, though, where all three endings are shown in order (it’s presented as ‘this is how it could have happened”, “this is how it could have happened”, and finally “this is how it actually happened”). In addition to the obvious, that now you can see all of the content from the comfort of your living room, presenting the film this way helps build momentum for the final ending, which is an explosion of mayhem that’s hard to swallow if you went straight there from the rest of the film, but works much better if you’ve already been primed by increasingly ridiculous summations.
The second reason I suspect this film wasn’t well-received at release is because there’s an enormous amount of dry humour. What do I mean by that? The film is undoubtedly a comedy; it’s more joke-dense than almost any movie I’ve ever seen. The problem is that, unlike a lot of comedies, the script frequently doesn’t call attention to the fact that these are jokes. Rather than a setup-punchline-pause format (though there’s plenty of that as well), a character will toss out a joke and the film will keep going as if nothing happened. An excellent example is this exchange, one of my favourites in the film:
Wadsworth: Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry, specializing in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur.
Plum: Yes, but now I work at the United Nations.
Wadsworth: Your work has not changed.
This works as a joke in isolation, and in any other film it would be one; that would be the end of Wadsworth’s line, it would hang in the air for a moment to let the characters react (and let the audience laugh). But not in Clue: Wadsworth moves on immediately, and the audience is quickly distracted by character exposition. This is the kind of humour that only works once you’ve seen the film more than once, when you can watch it over and over and pick up on little details. Frankly it reminds me of Arrested Development, the cult hit television series that’s so densely layered with jokes that it’s impossible to pick them all up on first viewing.
Finally, the film can be alienating because its core premise is sort of a lie. The film presents itself as a murder mystery: it’s based on a murder mystery board game, the first few scenes call to mind Agatha Christie’s immensely popular And Then There Were None, and the entire plot of the film is centered around solving the mystery of a murder. But despite all of that, the film is not ultimately a murder mystery, nor is it a spoof of murder mysteries (Mel Brooks, this ain’t). If you go into this film as a fan of murder mysteries - and I say this as a great fan of ITV’s Poirot series - and expect it to work the same way, you’re going to be eminently disappointed.
In the end, this film is an ensemble comedy that dressed up as a whodunnit for Halloween. The murder mystery is desert, but the real meat is this cast of seven exceptionally ordinary characters, played by seven magnificent character actors, embroiled in a situation that escalates so far beyond the absurd that they’re warped into absurdity just by being there. To make a long story short [ed. note: too late!], this film is probably not for everyone, or for every situation, but if you’re the sort of person who appreciates both a dry wit and frantic madness, I think you’ll like this one.
I’ve been told that all real reviews end with a rating, so here goes.
Article by xurdones
Before you say anything: YES, I KNOW, THIS IS CHAPTER 6, NOT 5.
Anyway.
Few months ago, I was scrolling down, and down, and down in the Steam store. I suddenly came across something that caught my attention: It was Exiled Kingdoms, an isometric RPG that was absurdely cheap. Let's give it a try, said I.
Boy oh boy.
Exiled Kingdoms takes place in the vast island of Varannar, a former colony of the long-forgotten Andorian Empire. You are a...how can I put it...Oh, yeah, I know. You're a lowborn, no one cares about you. Things are about to change though, seeing as one day you receive a letter saying you are the sole beneficiary of a mighty inheritance. Seeing as you have nothing better to do other than rake the land for potatoes, it would be pretty dumb of you not to embark in such a task. Too bad you aren't skilled in the foreshadowing business, because potatoes look better than the path that lies in front of you.
I don't really want to start throwing spoilers left and right, so I'll better tell you about what this game has to offer. All of you reading this magazine play RuneScape and love (or should love) questing. Exiled Kingdoms is that kind of game as well. You have the opportunity to visit more than 100 different areas, including the capitals of the four Kingdoms that were born after the fall of the Andorian Empire: Ilmara, Mercia, Thuram and Varsilia. That's a check for Exploration. And for all of you lore nerds...well, there is a faction actually called the "Royal Loreseekers". The game contains an impressive amount of 90 quests, with difficulty stretching from "Far too easy" to "Almost impossible", and a massive number of NPC's ready to relentlessly throw puns at you. Probably one of the best things in the game is the relatively small amount of skills and attributes you level up. That way, although there is a learning curve, it won't be a difficult task to learn how to actually distribute your points, which eventually makes your life easier.
To this day, after nearly a hundred hours of gameplay, and although I have completed the main storyline, there is still a lot for me to explore and a certain quest that I haven't managed to complete. If you wish to make your way through deception, treason, and evil foes, Exiled Kingdoms is the game for you.
Stay tuned for next month, for there will be a surprise article that will give you the insider look on one of the best RPG's this world of ours has ever seen. And, as usual,
Choto out.
Article by Choto 3000
The following lore talk is a summary of the Icyene race. It obviously contains quest, lore book and Archaeology spoilers, so be warned. I hope you enjoy this month’s issue of Forgotten Lore.
Icyene
The Icyene aren’t particularly obscure, and definitely not forgotten. However, there’s more Icyene lore than is accounted for simply in quests. The Icyene are human-like beings with wings, with a much longer lifespan than humans. Their strength is also larger than a normal human’s strength. This feat has been proven by Zilyana, who wields a Saradomin Sword single-handedly, while the mighty World Guardian needs two hands to wield it. The Icyene are usually remembered for their devotion towards the god Saradomin. In Saradomin’s armies, they often have high leadership ranks and many followers look up to them. The lore book “The Song From Before The War” tells us that the people from a regular village basically start worshipping a recruiter Icyene. This shows that humans usually see Icyene as angelic beings with Saradomin as their lord.
Homeworld
The Icyene originate from a mostly water-filled realm called Hallow. The rotation of this planet around its own axis is quite slow, thus resulting in one day taking close to a full year in earth-days. When the night arrives, so does the winter. The Icyene say that night-time on Hallow is rather dangerous. For this reason, the Icyene migrate to the other side of the planet, where the day and thus summer would have just arrived. Queen Efaritay spoke about a low survival chance for those that stayed during night-time. Eventually, Saradomin created a floating city and named it New Domina. This city soon became the Icyene capital on Hallow, mainly due to its ability to float along with the sun, thus never having to experience the night-time while in this city. Sadly, not much is known about New Domina, but here’s hoping we get to visit it sometime.
With Saradomin participating in the God Wars on Gielinor, many Icyene left Hallow to aid him. Despite this, there’s only four known alive Icyene currently on Gielinor.
Picture by RS-LegendArts
Commander Zilyana is, as her title already suggests, one of Saradomin’s army leaders. She’s fought in many battles during the God Wars and is still active. Blinded by her devotion towards Saradomin, she’s often reckless and has little sense for ethics. During The World Wakes, she shows this side of hers often.
During the first God Wars, she defended the fortress of Annakarl from the attacking Zamorakian army. This fortress used to be Zarosian, but during the God Wars, it fell to Saradomin. During the battle of Annakarl, Zilyana fought bravely against K’ril Tsutaroth, but was eventually bested. Close to dying, Saradomin himself appeared and healed Zilyana with the Stone of Jas (Elder Artefact: The Catalyst). Fully healed, Zilyana was ready to fight for her master once again.
At some point in time, Zilyana was sent by Saradomin to save the Armadylean Aviantese from attacking Zamorakian forces led by K’ril. These Aviantese were carrying the Godsword and sheltered in the caverns underneath The Temple of Lost Ancients. The Godsword became an item wanted by all the Gods. Bandos sent General Graardor to aid Zilyana in this battle, with the obvious intent being to steal the Godsword right from under their noses. This plan failed however, and the Saradomin/Armadyl alliance had now two enemies to face. After having to retreat, Zilyana prayed to Saradomin and received three amulets. These amulets, bearing the symbols of the other three God factions, had a mystical power that made the wearer of such amulet listen to Zilyana’s suggestions. Complete speculation, but this sounds like some Charos Ring stuff to me. When Zilyana found out that Kree’arra was doubting Saradomin’s intentions in this battle, she used the amulets to persuade Kree to attack Zilyana. Zilyana ambushed Kree’arra and obtained the Armadyl Crossbow in the process. When the factions found out about the amulets, they all focussed their grievances on Zilyana and each other. Thus starting the first God Wars Dungeon as we know it nowadays. However, this was over 2000 years before we rediscovered the dungeon. The very first World Guardian, Aeternam, sealed the dungeon with a freezing spell. Frozen in time, Zilyana remained there until tectonic movements in the wilderness caused the ice to defrost. Unaware of the Edicts, Zilyana continues her battle for the Godsword.
Eventually, Zilyana does find out that her beloved Saradomin had been banished from Gielinor. When the player finds the whereabouts of Guthix, she is the first to arrive at the scene together with Kree’arra. She seeks to kill Guthix so that Saradomin may return. Zilyana’s longing for her master’s return makes her aggressive, reckless and quite unethical. She bosses everyone around and even commands Kree’arra to kill the player. She moves on to the inner circle of the temple and summons her army to defeat Juna and the other Guardians of Guthix. Eventually, her armies were mostly defeated, and in anger she leaped and struck Cres down, believing Cres was Guthix. This is when the Zarosians showed up and simply overpowered Zilyana. Later, when Guthix died by Sliske’s hand, she was happy about it. This happiness, however, was short-lived as even her master Saradomin claimed she was being disrespectful. After this, she was sent back to the God Wars Dungeon to continue her battle for the Godsword. During Sliske’s games, she often appeared as Saradomin’s advisor, frequently showing disdain towards other factions. During the current crisis, she showed up at Seren’s council to represent Saradomin.
Saradomin called for the Icyene armies on New Domina to aid him on Gielinor. Despite not wanting to leave, Efaritay had no choice because she was bound by duty. When arriving in Gielinor, they started to create the lighthouse known as Everlight. Obviously, the day-night cycle on Gielinor was a lot faster than on Hallow, so they got scared of the night. They used Everlight to simulate daytime during the night. The lighthouse, under Efaritay’s supervision, grew into a city, having Olympic stadia, theatres and even a graveyard. Everlight was not just a lighthouse with a city surrounding it. It also acted as a fortress to keep out Saradomin’s enemies.
By Icyene tradition, Efaritay (being of royal lineage) was promised to the military leader Bable. Like every story about forced marriage, she wasn’t into him. When arriving on Gielinor, Efaritay took a liking to the human race and spread the idea that they could convert to Saradomin. Bable, however was opposed to this. He only saw useless and weak creatures unfit for battle. The Icyene expanded their territories in the east and Efaritay declared settlements to be built for the humans. This region became known as Hallowvale. Soon, Efaritay fell in love with a human called Ascertes. With Saradomin’s blessing, Efaritay and Ascertes got married, leaving Bable in anger. Even though his loyalty towards Saradomin never wavered, he was clearly opposed to this act of betrayal.
The vampyre Lowerniel Drakan attacked Hallowvale and the human Saradominists quickly fell. With only the city of Everlight standing, the Icyene were finally able to keep the vampyres at bay. A victory short-lived, as the vampyres dug their way underneath the Everlight, surprising the Icyene. Ascertes was taken by Drakan. Bable did not care about this, and ordered his troops to retreat. He fled to the east, taking what remains of his armies with him. Queen Efaritay was left behind with her royal guard and the child she had with Ascertes. After sending her child away and sabotaging the Everlight so Drakan couldn’t use it, she surrendered to Drakan, resulting in her capture.
As prisoner, she was sent to a jail on Vampyrium, the Vampyre Homeworld. She remained there until Lowerniel Drakan was killed at the hands of the player and Vanescula Drakan. A while later, when Vanescula turned her armies towards the Paterdomus, Efaritay reappears. With the help of the player and Vanescula, she tried to find a way to cure her son, who had been turned into a Wyrd. Currently, Efaritay remains at the top of the Darkmeyer tower together with her recently gained ally Vanescula.
The story of Queen Efaritay, as currently presented, still has some loose ends. For example, what happened to Ascertes? As cruel as life in Gielinor can be, Ascertes was actually turned into the vampyre Vanstrom Klause, who has featured in the Myreque quest series as an enemy of the Myreque. Vanstrom was finally killed by the Player during the events of The Branches of Darkmeyer. The child of Efaritay is also known to us, as he’s actually Safalaan, leader of the Sanguinesti division of the Myreque. Safalaan turned into a Wyrd due to his Icyene and human blood after being bitten by Vanescula. As for Bable, what happened to him and his armies after their escape is currently unknown. The Icyene graveyard, however, contains Bable’s gravestone, leading us to the conclusion he’s dead. However, the ancient law of fantasy stories says: no body, not dead. So, who knows if we’ll see more of him someday?
Padomenes is probably known to you as Saradomin’s general during the Battle of Lumbridge. However, as little as we know of him, there’s actually some knowledge of him prior to that battle. Padomenes and his sister Padosan were born on Hallow. Padosan was a great athlete, beating Padomenes in every game they played. While trying to look cool to his friends, Padomenes however claimed he was the better of the two. In order to prove him wrong, Padosan challenged him to public marathon. Padomenes accepted and easily lost to Padosan. Enjoying this victory a bit too much, she crashed into an obstacle and lost her wings. For the Icyene, losing your wings was a sign of weakness and humiliation; despite this, Padomenes remained close to his sister. This shows Padomenes is a loving and caring Icyene. Padosan eventually died young to a currently unknown cause. Note that young for an Icyene can still be older than the average human, as the Icyenic lifespan is considerably longer than the human lifespan.
In Saradomin’s armies, Padomenes grew into a great tactician and became a general after some years spending travelling as a Saradominist priest. With Saradomin’s return, he was not one to celebrate as he realised the other gods would return as well. He rebuilt the Saradomin army to be ready for the inevitable war to come. His efforts bore fruit as he was ready when the Battle of Lumbridge began. This may actually have been the main reason Saradomin stood victorious at the end of the battle.
Not much else is known about Padomenes, as he’s quite reserved about himself and his past. He is, however, confirmed to have been at Everlight during its glory days, as, following one of the Player’s Archaeological discoveries at Everlight, he speaks of his sister Padosan and the gold medal she obtained there. He is also familiar with taking the light from the Everlight, as he instructs the player on how to do it. He currently remains in the Falador castle courtyard to train the human armies.
Garlandia is a female Icyene who is far from happy with Saradomin. Back in New Domina, Saradomin tried to recruit Garlandia to his armies. Garlandia would have none of it, saying she preferred peaceful solutions. In fear of more Icyene rebelling against him, Saradomin made an example of Garlandia by ripping her wings off. As we’ve already established before, having no wings as an Icyene basically made you an outcast. Cast out of New Domina, she was forced to brace the winter on her own; something an Icyene rarely survives. Garlandia, however, managed to survive and ended up in Gielinor, where she joined the Godless faction as she felt hatred for every God and their need for conflict. How she ended up in Gielinor is currently unknown, but we’ve seen her in World events 2 and 3. In the latter, she claimed victory for the Godless faction against Tuska together with her allies, Scopulus, Kara-Meir and their representative Guardian: Vorago.
Garlandia, who used to be a noble Icyene, fell from grace due to possibly being the only reasonable Icyene, with her not wanting anything to do with Saradomin’s need for war and conflict. Being forced to endure a harsh winter on Hallow turned her from being peaceful to being filled with hatred for the Gods.
Sergeant Mazakon
Sergeant Mazakon was a commander in the army of Saradomin. In his battles against Zamorak, he had lost an arm and leg and broken his wings. His limbs were replaced by clay body parts from the golems. These are the same golems we’ve encountered in Uzer during “The Golem” quest. He and his troops travelled from village to village to recruit humans by using a girl called Elspeth as propaganda. The girl was supposed to have Icyenic blood and she sang enticing songs to the villagers, making them want to sign up for war. This method was highly effective, and consequently Zamorakian ripper demon was sent to kill Elspeth. One night, the ripper demon found them in a village and mortally wounded Sergeant Mazakon. The people were unable to save him and he succumbed to his wounds.
Honourable mentions
In the story above, there’s a mention of Elspeth supposedly having Icyenic blood. Elspeth herself, however, claims this is false; it’s just good propaganda. The narrator of “The Song From Before the War” doubts her counterclaim, though, as she was eventually able to kill the ripper demon with One Piercing Note. So far, it’s not confirmed if Elspeth actually had Icyenic blood. Nevertheless, the story of Elspeth sure is an interesting one to read, and we’re sure to cover it at some point in the future.
Safalaan, the son of Queen Efaritay, is a human/Icyene hybrid. With the fall of Everlight, he was sent to safety by Efaritay. Eventually, he became leader of the resistance group fighting the vampyres. His story is heavily connected to the Vampyre storyline and will also be covered in the future.
That’s the lore talk for this issue of the Questaholic. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it and learned something new about the Icyene race.
Article by Shiro_Shana
Hello my dear adventurers of Clan Quest. The elf of Nordic Lands here with a Runescape 3 puzzle for you lorehounds and quest-seekers out there. And with it a few prizes for those smart enough to figure out the solutions. Some are easy, others are hard. But at the time of writing I’m thinking of increasing the difficulty level of the next puzzle, so feel free to give some feedback. But enough of that, here are the prizes!
1st place: 1 Bond
2nd place: 5 million gp.
3rd place: 2 million gp OR a new action bar on demand.
So how do you enter? For each correct answer you gain 1 ticket. Guessing correctly on all riddles plus the hidden word (marked in yellow below) gives an extra 3 tickets. You have until the 20th of September to send the answer to Tyco elf via Discord or Clan Quest offsite.
Article by TycoElf
Shood, noobs!
Questcaping here, or Fenn as you may know me, showing off the last month of minigame events! We've had a couple different things this time round. First off, you'll notice that a good deal of attendees from other clans -- that's largely thanks to the Clan Minigame Tournament! So good, people didn't want it to end... and with ongoing minigames, it doesn't have to :D
We also had a DXP Live overlapping with four of the month's ten events, but managed to get every single one of them up and running regardless. Thanks for coming, gainz or no gainz!
Saturday, August 1st: BARBARIAN ASSAULT
This may only be BA's second time on our minigame rotation, but it's very quickly become a staple of clan events (though not as much as Heist has :P ). I got my first Penance King kill thanks to the clan (and gonna shout out Leo here in particular, who's consistently been serving as our clan BA expert), and here I pulled off my second!
Watch them flamethrowers go!
It wasn't without struggle -- we had a good few kerfuffles of ensuring everyone had their scrolls and knew how to properly shoot their flamethrowers at the King -- but oh man, we did it!
This event was attended by 1ryb, AlphaLeo and evilphan (with 1ryb and Phan both managing their very first Penance King kill!) plus Nathan Golf of Rogue Ninja Civilization, who was a great help in getting everyone through. You'll note that this was the first time we had anyone from RNC attending CQ's minigame events -- suffice to say, you'll be seeing a lot more of that all through this article...!
Sunday, August 2nd: SHADES OF MORT'TON
This event was the very first time Shades of Mort'ton has showed up on the minigame event schedule (and directly before the final matches of the Clan Minigame Tournament -- WHICH, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T HEARD, CLAN QUEST CAME SECOND IN, AW YEAH).
Shades is an odd old minigame, in that barely anyone these days plays it "to completion" as originally intended. The dungeons below Mort'ton lie barren; the town's pyres are hardly used. Yet hop onto World 88, the minigame's official world, and I can pretty much guarantee you that -- at any time of day -- there will be multiple people down there, repairing the temple and blessing themselves some sacred oil.
What makes Shades of Mort'ton such a success story in the grand scheme of prehistoric RuneScape minigames? The answer is simple: sacred oil is in constant demand on account of that one vyre burning achievement. This means that sacred oil goes for an absolute ton on the GE (I kid you not, a full inventory goes for just under half a million, and can be obtained super quickly at that). You'll also find a good deal of ironmen playing the game, in order to shore up their personal stocks of oil.
The minigame has also received a surprising amount of love from Jagex in relatively recent times, with the addition of the shade luring dummy (purchased from the nearby store) and the Flamtaer bracelet (made through Crafting) in two separate updates in 2016. The fantastic Ninja Team also did a good deal of streamlining updates, as can be seen in the Ninja Fixes here. A lot of the people present weren't familiar with any of this, and were quite surprised to hear the minigame had actually received significant quality-of-life updates since the "good old days". It makes a real difference!
However, there is one thing that, as we lamented, hasn't been updated. RuneScape may now boast lychee berries, mangoes, and (the millennial's favourite) avocados, but despite the obvious existence of olive oil in this minigame, we still have no olives to squeeze it from! Obviously we need to raise the Farming level cap... again.
Also, here's someone's teleport animation fitting oddly well around the Sacred Fire Altar. Happy fifteenth birthday, Shades of Mort'ton?
(Funnily enough, this minigame actually is fifteen years old -- but its birthday was all the way back in October. I can't believe we missed it ;__; )
Attendees were 1ryb, evilphan, Iron Vss, Lady_Terelle, Questcaping, Shiro Shana and Xurdones. We cut it short after an hour to head to a last-minute Trouble Brewing training match, but I think at least a few of those people hoped to World 88 in order to continue shadesing over there. I have no idea how long people kept going after the first hour -- some say the event is still running to this day........
Saturday, August 8th: CASTLE WARS
Castle Wars? In my DXP? It's more likely than you think. 3v3 games were the most we managed to get together: not quite enough to earn golden tickets -- you need 5v5 for that -- but I find that the smaller games often end up forming unique strategies. (Ever played 2v2 Castle Wars? It's wild.) The odd number of teammates made for some hard decisions: two attacking, one defending? Two defending, one attacking? During the second game, the team I was on settled on all three defending... though only once we'd secured a nice lead. Time to sit back and ensure we kept that lead!
Everything alright out there...?
I'm gonna guess that's a "no"...
Clan Quest attendees were 1ryb, Borosouro and Questcaping, alongside Nathan Golf, Roxas385 and Shikimoko4 from RNC, plus our resident minigame-loving post-CMT clan guest Rohan (what a pro-han).
Despite having even numbers of Clan Questers and non-clannies in each game, the will of the Guthix portal was such that clannies and non-clannies worked together instead of fighting: the first game was Boro, Nathan and Roxas on Team Saradomin versus myself, 1ryb and Shikimoko4 on Team Zamorak, while the second was 1ryb, Boro and Shiki on Team Sara versus Nathan, Rohan and myself on Team Zam. Proud to say, as a Guthix portal-ordained Zamorakian, that Zammy won both times round! Vindication for World Event 1, I suppose.
Sunday, August 9th: FIST OF GUTHIX and HEIST
Fist of Guthix was the minigame we had scheduled for the first Sunday of DXP, and fortunately so, since it only requires four people to start -- but through various dirty tactics (like "asking nicely... and loudly") we managed to scrape together even more than that! The gainz may be powerful, but could the allure of minigames be even stronger still...?
We did end up getting distracted by Heist, though, which tends to be a rather common occurrence with 1ryb around. Looks like the clan has a new motto:
Attendees were 1ryb, Lady_Terelle, Questcaping and Surge Aurora from Clan Quest (with Llithyas replacing Lady_Terelle for Heist), plus RNC members MissGreenyy (who only attended FoG) and Robotwars666 (who came along for the whole thing -- his first time playing either of these!)
Also shout out to Tyco elf for coming on voice chat near the end of Heist and having a rather lovely chat about his adventures in geocaching!
Saturday, August 15th: SOUL WARS and TZHAAR FIGHT PITS
DXP was still running at this point, but yes -- we got ten people together for Soul Wars! We managed two intense games of it, in the end. Had Lithyas trying to get the "offer 100 soul fragments" achievement, but no luck -- looks like another achievement run is in order sometime soon...!
Also, sneaky peek at the Rogue Ninja Civilization Discord:
We ran out of people for Soul Wars after that, but Shiki had an alternative idea: to go to the TzHaar Fight Pits and wait around long enough to spawn Fight Caves mobs, then fight 'em off together. That wasn't something I'd ever heard about before right there and then, and suffice to say, I was very much down to try it out -- and so we did!
After trying out a couple rounds of PvP (in which Rohan zoomed all over the place with powerbursts of acceleration, and then proceeded to massacre us all), we instead waited it out for the mobs to arrive, sitting in a circle and singing kumbaya...
... and then found ourselves embroiled with an endurance battle with various TzHaar creatures, eventually taking constant damage every tick as we fought to stay alive. I was the second last person to die there -- Rohan was the last, managing a good while on his own before finally succumbing to the TzHaar onslaught.
Quite an adventure!
Attendees were 1ryb, Earendil20, Lithyas and Questcaping from Clan Quest, Flem, Shikimoko4, Sisera and The Blue G from Rogue Ninja Civilization, and Rohan and Sunny XD as guests.
Sunday, August 16th: FISHING TRAWLER
What do Entrana and Murphy's boat have in common?
They're both HOL(E)Y!
People took a while to turn up for this one -- our first attempt at a voyage was just me and Andy Barker1, and not long later, we tragically found ourself sinking off the coast south of Ardougne. Thankfully, we got a few more people coming along, and from there we managed some rather hearty catches!
... okay, maybe slightly heartier than that.
And all the while, we had to endure Murphy's horrifying working conditions.
One of these days, I swear we're going to rise up and get Murphy's severed head on a fish hook.
Also shout-out to Darkestnight for not even realising the minigame had rewards until the second or third run -- she'd just been playing for fun. That's the spirit!
Attendees were 1ryb, Andy Barker1, Darkestnight, Lady_Terelle, Questcaping, Robotwars666 and Xurdones.
Saturday, August 22nd: THE GREAT ORB PROJECT
There was quite a turnout for this one -- made for some intense games! A first for several people, and a not-so-first for others. Pop is ridiculously good at it, and we also found out that the winning team could generally be deduced as "whichever one happens to have Rohan on it"... not that we didn't give him a run for his money. Definitely some very close calls!
Great Orb always makes for Great Screenshots:
... and we also had a ton of fun playing The Blame Game.
Attendees were 1ryb, Borosouro, Isarap, Pop O, Questcaping, Seth E Roth and Shiro Shana from Clan Quest, Robotwars666, Shikimoko4 and Sisera from RNC, and Rohan being pro-han.
Sunday, August 23rd: FLASH POWDER FACTORY
Ahhh, FPF. A bit of a sore spot for a lot of our Rogue Ninja friends, whose clan was formed in and based around the Rogue's Den... and who were heartbroken by the original Rogue's Den minigame's removal ;__; As was I, honestly. I loved Rogue's Den as a kid. I'm not sure I ever managed to make it all the way through the thing, but I sure as hell gave it many, many tries!
Regardless, the Flash Powder Factory has found its way into many clannies' hearts... and done the opposite for some. It seems to be a bit Marmite: some love navigating the big, messy obstacle course maze (and, in fairness, it is one of the coolest-looking things in this game), while others are strongly put off by the built/in pickpocketing system. I personally have little in the way of quarrel with that: if you're playing on Spotlight, you'll find a ton of Thaler AFKers around to pickpocket. Playing off Spotlight, though, as this event was? Lord only knows how that turned out.
Lord only knows indeed. This little intro has all been me stalling up to the point of saying that I wasn't actually able to host or attend this one (having to catch up on sleep instead -- these events take place at 12pm for me, and as a night worker, that's usually prime Fenn sleepytime). I'm reasonably certain that it happened, what with the usual @Events @Spam @RS Spam having gone out in Discord (thanks Darkestnight for handling that!) but despite my best attempts at [s]interrogation[/s] gathering information, I have no idea who attended or what went down, nor did anyone provide screenshots.
(Gonna go out on a limb and say 1ryb was probably there, though. Y'know, seeing as he was in attendance at literally every other event on this list. Absolute legend.)
A mystery for the ages...
Saturday, August 29th: FIST OF GUTHIX and STEALING CREATION
Our scheduled event on this day was Stealing Creation, but given that we didn't have enough players, we stalled for an hour with Fist of Guthix next door.
There was an interesting guest in attendance here: Drain X1 had formerly played a lot of Fist of Guthix as a free player pre-EoC, to the point of having 60k rating -- putting them in 137th place on the hiscores! (And I thought Shiro's 4k was impressive...!) They had heard, via my general talkativeness on Reddit, that our clan occasionally did Fist of Guthix, and had come along to check it out for the first time after leaving post-EoC. We taught them how to Surge and Revolution and whatnot, lent out a better weapon, and all in all helped 'em get used to this very different era of the game.
After an hour, Rohan let us know-han that Fast Sc was doing matches on a different world, and so along we popped to try that out. I've heard a good deal about Fast Sc before, as the main group organising non-combat SC games, and enjoyed the experience -- they're a friendly bunch, and well-organised for sure. 10/10 would Fast Sc again!
Attendees were 1ryb, Darkestnight, De lta and Questcaping from Clan Quest, plus Robotwars666 from RNC and guests Drain X1 and Rohan.
Sunday, August 30th: BURTHORPE GAMES ROOM
A perfect recipe for a lazy Sunday afternoon: Runeversi, Runelink, Draughts, setting the Games Room on fire, and Runesquares.
(I don't think you're meant to set the Games Room on fire. But we did that anyway.)
Screenshot by 1ryb, captioned: "a random fisherman spectating a pro game of PURE EVIL".
Oh yes. Did you know that in Games Room Draughts, when you crown a piece (or rather a rune, as all the Games Room games use runes), it turns red? Hence the ongoing clan joke of E V I L S O U L, from our last Burthorpe Games Room event.
E V I L F I R E . E V I L B L O O D
We should really bring Evil Dave along sometime.
Despite the EVIL, or even potentially because of it, I think it's safe to say we all had a great time with this -- there were a good few people in attendance, a few of which had never even been to the Games Room before, and the whole thing seemed to go on for three hours at least! These board games may not be as action-packed as some other minigames in RuneScape, but they're classics for a damn good reason.
Attendees were 1ryb, Borosouro, Diapolo10, evilphan, Lithyas and Questcaping, plus Robotwars666 of RNC.
That's all for August! Here's the schedule for the next month and a bit (note that minigames in bold italics will not be on Spotlight):
Lot of clan favourites coming up -- see you there!
Article by Questcaping
September 2020
"xurdones" wrote:
In recognition of all her hard work getting Questaholic out the door for 'lo these many months, I nominate evilphan. Even though I only caught the tail end of her reign, I've been involved in volunteer publishing before and I know that putting out something like Questaholic every month is not an easy thing to do, especially when you're not getting paid for your time. Guiding the editor crew through four publications and 24 individual articles deserves a golf clap, at least.
| Drumroll |
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CONGRATULATIONS EVILPHAN! |
Congratulations!
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Wait a second... -You may say- What are the RAWR Awards??
Check this link!
PS: Please remember no clannie is better than other just because they won a RAWR edition. You're already a winner if you made it to this thread, because it means you care about others and make our clan a better place every day. See you next month!
Article by Choto
Send the answers to these questions (as many as possible) to Questcaping, over Discord or offsite PM.
The person with the most points will win EITHER 25M RS3 GP OR a free art commission from me (check out Vi Nightshade's portrait on the front cover for an example of what that'd look like).
The questions are:
- Which clannie is known for his incredibly handsome abs?
- Who was the first clannie to 99 Archaeology?
- How much did Lady Klaw's baby weigh at birth?
- (And, for a bonus point: which clannie guessed the weight spot on?)
- The username Pop O is short for an earlier version of his username -- what was it?
- Which clannie cosplayed Nomad to RuneFest 2019, placing second in the audience vote?
- Who is the current head of the OSRS Guild Council?
- Which clannie has made YouTube videos of almost every quest in RuneScape?
- (Bonus point for naming the account used for these quest playthroughs!)
- Which clannie is known for sending surströmming to other clannies worldwide (to be consumed at their own risk)?
- Which three clannies were victorious in Clan Quest's Werewolf forum game? (One point for each!)
- Which clannie is also known as "The Grandmotha"?
- Which two clannies maxed simultaneously at RuneFest 2019?
- Name as many PMods currently in the clan as you can -- one point for each!
Plus a bonus image round:
- Which clannie is this?
Article by Questcaping