The Tale of the Muspah
We return to the sage of the Mahjarrat, and we're actually going to get some involvement from them this time around. This is also Twoie's first exposure to the Fremennik, sowing the seeds for what will come to be a significant storyline.
We begin by talking to Erjolf, a Fremennik youth and the worst liar this side of White Wolf Mountain:
He's guarding this cave because he's doing The Fremennik Trials, and he wants to use the thing he found inside as a trophy to prove his worth:
Foreshadowing dons a horned helmet and starts drunkenly singing
I appreciate how the dialogue is slightly different here if you've done the quest versus if you haven't. It's a nice touch to build coherence in the world, and it's not exactly a monumental technical challenge to do.
After some needling, Erjolf is convinced to show us what he's found: it's a big block of ice, containing what he thinks is an old suit of armour. Unfortunately he can't get a good look at it, because of all the ice, so he's going to need to melt some of it.
I'm sorry, did I say Erjolf was going to melt the ice? I meant we were going to melt the ice, and Erjolf is going to "supervise." Incidentally, I don't know if this was intentional but I kind of love the character moment of Erjolf not really understanding the Fremennik tradition of setting boats on fire (they don't do it 'cause it's fun, it's a funerary right). It works pretty well because Erjolf is a child, and because he's established as kind of a dopey Fremennik. It's a nice touch.
So begins the first, and most involved, puzzle in the quest: we have to block and unblock certain outflow channels in the cave's water system to guide our pyre ships next to the ice blocks and melt them. This is a kind of neat puzzle because it looks much harder than it is. I saw all the stalagmites sticking out of the water and assumed it would be like an ice-slidy puzzle, where I'd have to navigate complex flows around obstacles. Maybe you could do it like that, I don't know, but it turned out easier to just block all-but-one outflow, and just set off ships from different squares. The only real brain-exercising bit was where you had to get some rafts stuck on a stalagmite and then line them up, like so:
But you only had to do that twice, and Erjolf told you in the instructions that you'd need to, so it wasn't ultimately that difficult.
Upon uncovering the inner ice block, Erjolf is disappointed to find that it contains a frozen monster, not armour, and suggests we go talk to a scientist in the Polar Hunter area to try and identify it. He also gives an incredibly unsubtle hint that I should try to remember what the creature looks like, which proves...challenging:
Yep, that's certainly a block of ice. Shame I can't see what's inside it. Luckily I already know what's inside, and what it looks like, so I head off to the Natural Historian. He's...a bit odd.
I am filled with confidence. Despite being less-than-enthusiastic about his abilities at animal identification, he asks me to describe the creature so I oblige. This is a cool puzzle (alas I didn't think to take a screenshot) because it's sort of a dialogue puzzle, but there's a visual feedback mechanism. In practice it works like making a police sketch, where you answer questions and then see the answers reflected in front of you so you can make changes. It is slightly annoying to have to start over from the beginning if you get the description wrong, so something more like the character creator (where you can cycle between various options) would be a nice addition, but overall it works pretty well.
Of course, it would have worked better if I could actually see the blooming thing inside the block of ice, but I guess we can't have everything. Luckily I'm a veteran Runescape player, and know what a Muspah looks like, so I was still able to complete the puzzle.
Foreshadowing has a volcano-shaking nightmare
Alas the Natural Historian can't help me learn about mythical creatures, but he directs me to the Kharidian desert where, according to legend, there's a lost statue of a creature very similar to the one I'm describing. Finding that should help me...somehow.
It's not exactly clear how finding the statue will help me, but without much else to go on I take the Lumbridge teletab (which seems more than slightly unnecessary in the days of the Lodestone network, but nevermind) and make my way to Pollnivneach.
Here's another example of where Scale Theory comes in. The Natural Historian said that the status was east of the Desert Mining Camp. Well, here's that space:
Yep, that's the entirety of the space to the east of the Desert Mining Camp. Makes you wonder how the statue was lost at all. Obviously I quickly find it, and dig it up, and who should appear but...
...one of the, like, four Alis who survived the Great Purge. Never explained is how he happens to arrive right as we uncover the statue, but I kind of like that: it adds to the mystique of the character (who's played as the archetypical omniscient scholar), but makes a lot of sense when you eventually learn that he's really Wahisietel the Mahjarrat. The conversation with Ali is interesting for establishing some info on the Mahjarrat, but it's all pretty low-level stuff. This bit made me chuckle, though:
I like to imagine, after Fate of the Gods, Twoie going to visit Ali in Nardah. "Fairly easy to destroy," I imagine her telling him, "That's what you said, right? Well I've got news for you, bucko."
The more plot-relevant outcome of talking to Ali is that he tells us how to melt the ice block surrounding the Muspah, which had been unaffected by our pyre ships: we need to enchant some sapphires around it, to draw away the magic. Okay, I can get on-board with that. I need to get some runes, and luckily there are some sapphire rocks right in the cave, and soon enough I've released it. Erjolf runs off, but it doesn't seem all that interested in me:
Talking to it eventually reveals the Muspah to be Jhallan, a Mahjarrat (and the first one we've encountered, since we chose not to resurrect Hazeel), and he shifts into his true form:
That's uncalled-for, Twoie; I'm sure he's very...well, moderately attractive for a Mahjarrat. Luckily for us Jhallan was severely weakened by shapeshifting into the form of a Muspah (makes me wonder what shape Wazzy and Azzy are going to be in when they eventually turn up), so he doesn't immediately smite me and is willing to accept my help:
Charming. Basically I need to find him a new place to hide, underneath the Mahjarrat ritual stone, and re-freeze him. That requires enchanting sapphires again, apparently, as well as getting myself to the caves. Luckily Erjolf knows a route, and I meet Jhallan underneath the Ritual Plateau.
I didn't take any screenshots, but I like the concept of the quest's final puzzle: we need to find Jhallan somewhere peaceful to rest: it needs to be cold, to keep him frozen, but he doesn't want any noisy creatures or running water, or distracting lights to keep him awake and further drain his energy. It's a sort of Goldilocks puzzle, using the environment design to find the one room that's juuust right. I like it in concept, but in practice we just follow the corridor to the very end and there's the one room that meets his criteria. Oh well.
One final conversation, where we basically blackmail him into making a trophy for Erjolf (using a big chunk of his remaining energy in the process; good work, Twoie), and we're done; quest complete!
Not a terrible quest, all things considered. The puzzles were decent, though not very challenging, but the one puzzle based on describing the Muspah suffered from graphical glitches. Lore-wise, always good to introduce the Mahjarrat: they end up being some of the most important characters in the story, so it's nice to see them getting a proper introduction.