The Slug Menace

We have a mission for you

 * With your Commorb in your inventory, head to Falador Park and speak with Sir Tiffy Cashien about any jobs he might have.


 * (Without your Commorb, he will begin talking about the quest but you will not be able to start it!)


 * Along with his ramblings, he tells you about the village of Witchaven, which has had some rather strange goings-on recently. He tells you to check in with the Temple Knights' local agent in Witchaven, Col. Jake O'Niall, and upgrades your Commorb to a Commorb v2.


 * A reasonably fast way to get to Witchhaven is to teleport to Ardougne (with 51 magic) and then walk east and slightly south to the coastal town of Witchaven. Alternatively, you may use fairy ring code BLR to the Legend's Guild and then take a short walk south.

The villagers of Witchaven



 * Find Col. O'Niall rocking in a chair on the dock at the north-east corner of Witchhaven.


 * Talk to the (semi) retired member of the Temple Knights.


 * He tells you that some of the villagers started acting strangely about three weeks ago, especially Mayor Eustace Hobb. He also tells you that some are in a dazed and confused state.


 * If you haven't already, ask O'Niall who the important people are in Witchhaven.


 * He points you to Mayor Hobb; the priest, Brother Maledict; and Holgart the fisherman, who helped you with the Sea Slug Quest. He suggests others may also have some insight into what's been happening.


 * Start off by heading to Mayor Hobb's house.


 * It's on the north-west side of town.


 * Choose all the conversation options with him you can.


 * Start to leave the house, but Savant stops you.


 * She notes the mayor is acting a bit fishy and asks you to scan him.


 * Inside the mayor's house, choose the scan option on the Commorb v2.


 * She gets an odd reading but is unsure what it means.


 * Head to the church—just south-east of the mayor—and speak with Brother Maledict.


 * He tells you he's worried about his flock, which has begun to act a little bit strangely lately.


 * Choose all the available conversation options with the brother.


 * Now, walk a little bit north by the shore, and talk to Holgart.


 * He tells you that the mayor recently confiscated his boat and gave it to another man named Jeb, walking nearby. He also mentions that the Fishing Platform looks a might bit stranger and that you should go take a look.


 * (It is not necessary at this point, but if you decide to check out the fishing platform, speak with Jeb, who can take you out and back. You can also talk to some of the villagers, many of whom seem nervous or act oddly.)

Explore the shrine

 * Report back to Col. O'Niall, and tell him what you have found out so far.


 * He suggests you take a good look at the shrine.


 * Head to the western edge of the village—to the shrine ruins—and climb down the old ruin entrance to get into the shrine's dungeon, which is also the dungeon from the Family Crest quest.


 * Once you're in the dungeon, look at the minimap. On the east wall, look for a red section indicating a false wall. (See the image to the right for the section's location.)


 * Choose the Push Wall option to open this section, and then enter the wall opening.


 * You find yourself in a winding tunnel with aggressive giant lobsters.




 * Make your way through the tunnel—or save some time and climb through the Agility shortcut—and head to the imposing doors blocking your way. (See the image to the fight for a map of the dungeon.)


 * Warning:  Don't try to open the doors or else a flash of light will spring from them, burning your hand for 50 life points.


 * Savant contacts you via the Commorb v2 to ask you to take a scan of the strange markings on the door.


 * Choose the scan option on the Commorb v2.


 * She says they look similar to glyphs she studied at the academy. She gives you a transcript of the runes to take to Jorral, who can translate them.


 * Before you go, grab the dead sea slug nearby. It will come in handy later.


 * Savant contacts you about the slug you picked up and does a scan to analyze it.

Fitting the pieces together

 * Travel to Jorral at the Outpost, which is north-west of West Ardougne and south of the Tree Gnome Stronghold.


 * He's the one who starts the Making History quest.


 * Talk to him about translations.


 * Savant pops up in the Commorb v2 and coaches you on how to get Jorral to translate the message. Eventually, Jorral takes a look at the text and says it refers to a great battle.


 * After Jorral is done, Savant contacts you again to catch you up on what she's learned about Mother Mallum.


 * Head back to Witchaven, and check in with Col. O'Niall.


 * He suggests you talk with Brother Maledict to see if he knows anything.


 * Approach the church's door, and you see a brief cutscene of the mayor leaving the chapel.


 * When you enter the church, the priest is wobbling around, looking rather ill and acting strangely.


 * Talk to him about what is behind the imposing doors you found.


 * He tells you he has a book that might be of use but someone has stolen the three pages about the shrine's history. He says it's imperative you recover them.


 * Note: Make sure you have five empty spaces in your inventory for two whole pages and three fragments of the third page.


 * For the first page, enter the mayor's house and search his study desk to obtain Page 1 of Maledict's holy book.


 * Talk to Ezekial Lovecraft—the owner of Lovecraft's Tackle fishing shop south of the dock—to get Page 2 of the holy book.


 * To recover the last one—Page 3—talk to O'Niall again.


 * He too has the same jaundiced look as the other villagers. He—strangely—does have the last page, which, unfortunately, has been ripped into three pieces.


 * Try to use swamp paste on the fragments to glue the page back together, but Savant stops you.


 * The oily tar would ruin the ancient parchment, she warns. Instead, she advices, make sticky glue from a rendered slug.


 * Travel to the Fishing Platform by talking to Jeb, who is near Holgart.


 * Head west on the platform, and talk with Bailey in the small room.


 * You hand him the dead slug you picked up earlier from the shrine, and in a few seconds, he gives you the sea slug glue you need.


 * Note: If for whatever reason you've lost or dropped the dead sea slug, an infinite number spawn outside the door with the strange markings in the shrine. Be sure not to try to pick a live sea slug, however, because it will bite you, dealing 30 life points of damage.




 * Now use the glue on the fragments, and a puzzle will pop up.


 * Move the three pieces of the page around using the controls over in the bottom-right corner of your screen:


 * Use the arrows to move, rotate, and even flip over the fragments.


 * Use the Show and Select buttons to choose which pieces to show and to move.


 * The easiest way to tell if you've got them all on the right side is that the correct side is lighter than the other.


 * When you put the pieces in their correct place, the puzzle fragments will close automatically, forming Page 3. The image to the right gives you a general idea of how the fragments should fit together.


 * Now talk to Jeb on the dock and have him take you back to Witchaven.

Shaping runes
Note: For this section, be sure to have a chisel, at least five rune essence or pure essence, and the Commorb v2 because otherwise you can't enter the wall opening.


 * With each page, choose a shape option to make the rune essences into the following shapes:


 * A blank earth rune
 * A blank air rune
 * A blank fire rune
 * A blank water rune
 * A blank mind rune


 * It is possible to fail shaping an essence and break it. Be careful not to use a chisel on the essence or you get rune shards.


 * Now, take each of the blank runes to its associated altars, and use the rune on the altar: The blank earth rune on the earth altar, the blank water rune on the water altar, and so on.


 * It is also possible to fail to empower the blank rune at the altar, thus destroying it.


 * Once complete, your inventory should contain the following misshapen runes:


 * An earth rune
 * An air rune
 * A fire rune
 * A water rune
 * A mind rune


 * Keep your pages, chisel, and spare essence handy as you make your way to the various altars.


 * Using an Amulet of Glory and the Abyss can shorten this process. Alternatively, you can play the Great Orb Project minigame and visit the required altars without the talismans.

The Conclusion?
When that's done, head back to Ardougne and prepare for a fight. Now go back to The Shrine and up to the strange doors the same way as last time using the Agility shortcut if you can. Take the Commorb with you. Use each of the specially shaped runes you made on the door to trigger another cutscene. It is revealed that Mayor Hobb tricked you into opening the door so that Mother Mallum could escape. After that, you'll have to fight a level 62 slug prince. It isn't that hard to kill, although you are unable to damage it with range or magic based attacks. Arrows and magic bounce right off of it. Once you kill it, you'll be treated to another cutscene by the Mother Mallum (whom if you right-click and examine her you will get "An unspeakable horror from the depths of time."), after which you'll be teleported to Falador park, just steps away from turning the quest in by talking to Sir Tiffy. Congratulations!

Reward



 * 1 Quest Point
 * 3500 Crafting experience
 * 3500 Runecrafting experience
 * 3500 Thieving experience
 * Promotion to Proselyte among the Temple Knights. This means you can buy and wear new Temple Knight armour with a greater Defence bonus than Initiate. You can buy each piece individually, or buy the armour pack which, when opened, gives you the plate, helm, and legs/skirt all at once. The pack is worth 25,000 coins.



Music
Music tracks unlocked:


 * Slug a Bug Ball
 * The Mollusc Menace

Trivia

 * The quest is based very heavily on the story "Shadow over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft, where a struggling fishing community makes a deal with creatures known only as "The Deep Ones" who in turn for ensuring the prosperity of the village, require people as sacrifices. They also produce horrible frog-featured offspring with the villagers that eventually become fully developed Deep Ones and return to the seas. These creatures were practically immortal, and worshipped two demigods known as Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. The shopkeeper in Witchaven, Ezekial Lovecraft, is a nod towards the author. If you talk to him, he notes he has a relative named Howard, which was H.P. Lovecraft's first name. He also says, when asked what he does, that the Lovecrafts have always been bait sellers or writers.
 * This is not the last quest of the Sea Slug saga. Sir Tiffy, among other things, places you in charge of the ongoing offence against Mother Mallum and states that he will be widening the intelligence network of the Temple Knights. You will have to "check back in a bit" (next quest TBA) for further briefing.
 * The character Col. Jake O'Niall is most likely based on the character Col. Jack O'Neill from TV's Stargate SG-1.
 * Mayor Hobb used to always slide about his room rather than walking. This glitch has recently been fixed.
 * During the Mother Mallum cutscene at the end of the quest you are unable to examine Mayor Hobb.
 * When Talking to Col. Jake O'Niall for the initiation of the mission, after calling him sir he replies: "Don't call me sir, I work for a living." This is a saying from enlisted soldiers in the military.
 * When talking to Jorral, Savant tells you to say you work for petmel books. This may also be a reference to the book "Shadow over Innsmouth".
 * From a corner of the tunnel, a hobgoblin can be seen walking in the unknown.
 * The Move that you use to kill the Slug Prince is identical to Darklight's special attack.
 * This quest was the first members quest to be announced on the RuneScape website.
 * At the end of the quest, when the player is about to be killed by Mother Mallum, they say "Savant, now would be a good time." This is a reference to Chekov's line in Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home.