So, despite what I said last time, apparently this is officially the start of the elf quest series. I guess Sheep Herder was just a prologue, but it's #1 in my heart (and, really, it makes very little sense to do much after this quest anyway).
Our story begins by talking to Edmond, whose daughter has gone missing in plague-ridden West Ardougne. Because we don't really understand what "quarantine" means, we volunteer to sneak in and look for her.
Man, Twoie is really lucky this plague turns out to be fake. 99 universes out of a hundred, this ends quite differently for her.
Anyway, we need better PPE before we can go into the city (we need a fantasy N95, which makes sense), but luckily Edmond's wife can make us what we need. She just needs dwellberries, which I'm told are in McGrubor's Wood. I'm also told that I'll need to sneak around the back, since the front entrance is guarded. Considering that I've been told all this, and that the dwellberry spawn is literally right beside the rear entrance, this is little more than a distraction. But considering how important McGrubor's Wood is in later quests, I'm not too bothered; it's a necessary bit of tutorialization.
I'm back to Ardougne, new gas mask in hand, and Edmond reveals the next phase of the plan: his garden is right on top of the sewer that runs into West Ardougne, so we're going to dig a hole into it and sneak in that way. Seems like it would be easier to just find the outflow pipe (which presumably exists into the River Dougne), but whatever. Say, I wonder which patch of dirt I need to dig up?
It's probably not fair of me to point this out, considering how many graphical updates have occurred since this quest was implemented, but come on, they're practically begging me with that examine text.
I've got to soften up the dirt first, but there's a bucket in the garden and a sink in the house, so it's not tough work. Then I'm in the sewer, and off to West Ardougne! But not before I've suited up:
Here we have the lovely Xurdtwos, modelling the very latest in quarantine fashion. Note the shortbow, perfect for encouraging social distancing. Buy yours today!
We have a brief diversion where Edmond needs to help me pull the grate off a pipe, but then I've snuck into West Ardougne. Surely nobody will notice my clever ruse!
WITH CATLIKE TREAD UPON WEST ARDOUGNE I STEAL!
Anyway, at this point I talk to Jethick, and I'm required to produce a picture of Elena, the woman I'm looking for. Luckily I remember seeing one in Edmond's house, so I just pop back to get it. Still nobody notices the wide-open manhole that this stranger keeps using to violate the quarantine. Man, the Mourners are really bad at their jobs. But I'm back to Jethick with the picture, and he tells me to go see the Rehnisons. Curiously, he also gives me a book about growing turnips, which he wants me to return to them. It's a really strange thing to dwell on, because the book isn't significant in any way: it doesn't contain a clue or indication that there's some hidden intrigue going on, and the Rehnison family barely acknowledge it at all. It's just a bit bizarre.
My theory, which is really the only reason I can think of for this item to exist, is that the original game engine didn't have a way to record that you'd had a certain conversation with a particular NPC, so it couldn't "unlock" (in a programming sense, since the Rehnisons won't let you in until you've reached this point in the quest) the door to the Rehnison house based solely on the conversation with Jethick. So the book serves as a sort of "I solved this puzzle" flag, allowing you to progress. That's my guess, anyway.
Talking to the Rehnisons sends me to the south end of the city, where I find the plague house Elena disappeared into. But I can't get into it without permission from either the Head Mourner or the City Warder (etymology note: this word means "prison guard". Foreshadowing gives a socially-distanced wave). I haven't seen either of those two, but logic dictates that the people in charge of the city will be in the biggest house, so that's where I go.
The Clerk tells me that Bravek isn't to be disturbed, so I figure I'll go try the Head Mourner in Mourner HQ. Unfortunately I can't figure out how to get in; trying just tells me I need to distract the Mourners at their meal, which feels like a clue meant for a later quest (it's certainly not relevant to me right now). Stymied, I return to the Clerk and demand to see Bravek. Somehow this works, and I'm in to see the most hung-over public official since John A. MacDonald (any Canucks in my readership thought that was a really good joke, probably).
Before we can get anything useful out of Bravek, we have to sober him up. Luckily he has the instructions for making a hangover cure:
Feckin doctors.
I somehow decipher that gibberish, and luckily the ingredients aren't too hard to find. I'm once again in-and-out of West Ardougne, with nobody the wiser. Bravek drinks the concoction, and now he's ready to talk sensibly. Unfortunately he's not willing to actually do anything to help me, because "the Mourners handle all that stuff." At this point we have a little dialogue puzzle, which I've said before that I like, but this one is a bit strange. There are two options I can take:
- Call Bravek out for being a shit leader, or
- Basically just ask for help, but harder
Want to guess which one works? That's right, it's asking the exact same thing again, only differently. Appealing to his pride as a leader doesn't work (which I guess is good characterization, since we find out later he doesn't have any pride as a leader), but asking slightly more nicely does? Really nothing about this interaction makes sense knowing what we find out later, that Bravek has known about the fake plague the whole time but is too afraid to do anything about it. Why is he helping us? We're not trying to expose the plague, we're just trying to free a woman whose locked in a plague house. Is Bravek having an attack of conscience? That doesn't seem congruous with his later characterization, but it's really the only explanation so I guess we're going with it.
Warrant in hand, I'm back to the plague house where the Mourners still don't want to let me in. Obviously they don't want me to know that they don't want to let me in, and they can't really be seen to publicly overrule the guy they supposedly report to, so they go around the corner to discuss options. A fatal mistake.
Somehow this isn't brought up later, even though those two Mourners continue to stand outside the door when I eventually leave.
But I'm inside the house, and I find Elena in the basement. I need a key to release her, but she says it's stashed somewhere in the house and there are a finite number of interactable objects, so I've soon got her free. Back to Edmond for my reward, and quest complete!
Mining experience? Why mining experience? Whatever, don't question it.
Final analysis is that this is a narratively interesting quest. It introduces the reality of the Ardougne plague in a more effective way than Sheep Herder (which was really just a bare introduction to the concept), but it also leaves enough hooks and open questions to be built on as the series develops. There were some technical oddities, which again I suspect were engine limitations at the time, but nothing game-breaking. I'm intrigued, and wish to know more.