Talk to Effigy near the tower south of Ardougne, next to the Necromancer's tower.
Official difficulty
Novice
Description
The construction of a mysterious tower is almost complete, but the builders working on it have gone on strike. Losing patience, the alchemists that hired them are looking for anybody to help them. When the world of magic and the world of logic combine you can expect dangerous results, but a true adventurer would cherish such things... wouldn't they?
At least 14 empty spaces to carry items acquired during the quest.
Enemies to defeat
None
Obtaining the Builder's outfit
Begin the quest by heading to the Tower of Life south of East Ardougne, just south-west of the Necromancer's Tower. (Do not confuse this tower with a Druid Tower NORTH of Ardougne). Talk to Effigy. He will tell you speak to Bonafido if you want to help. It is just south-west of Fairy ring DJP.
Talk to Black Eye to get a hard hat and answer his three questions. Here are the questions and answers:
How many nails does it take to make a rocking chair? -- Three
What takes 3 planks, 3 cloth and 3 nails to make, and help remove light from a room -- Torn curtains
I like fish and I want to put some in my garden, but I need a special water feature. What materials would I require? - 10 clay pieces
Talk to Gummy and ask for trousers; he says he lost a pair around the tower, just search the plants (the ones south-east of the tower) to find the Builder's trousers.
Talk to "The Guns", who wants a beer. Go and buy a beer for 2 coins at the Flying Horse Inn or the Poison Arrow Pub (perhaps most conveniently) in East Ardougne, the pub at the Fight Arena or Yanille and return, give him the beer and he will give you his shirt.
Finally, talk to "No fingers" and pickpocket him (be sure to wear gloves!) when he refuses to give you the boots.
Once you've acquired all the items, you must answer some questions from Bonafido for him to grant you entry to the tower. The answers are:
You've plenty of work to do, but you need a drink fast - what do you go for? - Tea
Now, let's hear you whistle! - Whistle for attention
What's a good sign that you need to repair your trowsers? - Your legs are getting a bit cold
What do you do if you cut your finger? - Carry on, it'll fix itself.
After answering these questions, you are allowed to enter the tower.
Fixing Up the Tower
Old School RuneScape uses the British convention for floor numbering: Ground floor, first floor, etc.
A pressure machine, a pipe system, and a strange cage at the top need to be finished. A hammer and saw (or crystal saw) are needed to fix machines.
All the required items are on the ground floor in crates. Search these as required. Each crate gives the same item; search again to get more or if you found nothing.
Note: There are two spots for Metal bars but you only need 5.
Turn each wheel left until the ball plugs the hole, then once plugged turn wheel to right until pipe is filled with water. It will say it is fixed in text window. Two wheels need the lever down to operate.
You will need to solve a rather simple puzzle similar to a jigsaw. Using the arrows at the bottom of the screen, move the pieces into their correct positions, as illustrated on the right. As soon as you put a pipe in the correct location it will lock in place. You only have to rotate the largest piece, the rest are the correct orientation when you start.
Clicking the horizontal or vertical button will make a bar appear. It can increase in size by using the + sign. The bars start off at size one once selected. Click "place bar" and it will go in. If it disappears, redo the steps with the next size up.
The Homunculus
The Homunculus!
Once all three machines are properly fixed then you must go to the ground level and talk to Effigy. He will be delighted that you've finished and he and the other alchemists disappear to the top. You decide that you better join them.
Go back up to the top of the tower and see a long cut scene where the Homunculus is brought to life. To your surprise, the three alchemists mistreat the creature. They run away in fear when it proves able to cast a powerful magic spell.
Go back to the base of the tower and talk to Effigy, then return back to the top of the tower to confront the Homunculus.
Helping Homunculus with magic or logic
You now need to push the Homunculus' mind towards magic or logic. All multiple-choice answers are either magical, logical or neither. You need to push the bar at the top of the screen either to fully magical or fully logical, once done, the Homunculus will be ok. It does not matter if you push the Homunculus's mind towards magic or logic, the outcome will be the same.
There are 14 questions. Choosing a Magical answer moves the arrow to the left, a Logical answer moves the arrow to the right, and a Neither answer does not move the arrow. If you do not move the arrow all the way to one end, then the questions repeat. Likewise, you could finish before all the questions are asked.
How can I make fire appear at my fingertips?
Logic - Get some logs and a tinderbox.
Magic - With the aid of 5 fire runes.
Neither - That's impossible! No one can do that!
How do dragons breathe fire?
Neither - Not too sure, I've never seen it happen.
Magic - With the help of the magical dragonstones!
Logic - By ignition of gas in their belly as they exhale.
Neither - I'd like to think you wouldn't be carrying bones around.
Magic - Turn them into bananas or peaches!
What's the best way to travel?
Neither - I'm not really much of a traveller, sorry.
Logic - Run, run as fast as you can.
Magic - Depends where you are headed, but teleport spells are a safe bet.
I hear people whisper of potions...
Magic - Yes, you can make magic potions to boost your skills.
Logic - People mix together ingredients in vials. The nutrients will help you.
Neither - Yes, liquid-filled vials. Big deal.
How are rune stones created?
Magic - By harnessing the power of the gods!
Neither - Never seen one personally.
Logic - Take a rune stone to an altar and use a talisman.
Can people move things with the power of the mind?
Neither - Perhaps. I've never seen it myself, though.
Magic - Yep, you can use the Telekinetic Grab spell.
Logic - Sure. Use your brain to tell someone to move it!
How can I possibly exist?
Magic - Through the power of alchemy.
Neither - It's beyond me!
Logic - It's a simple case of combining materials.
Explain those flashing sparks that scared the alchemists.
Magic - You have special powers - no surprise seeing how you were created.
Logic - Coincidence - there is a lot of loose metal around.
Neither - Yeah, they were cool! Nice one.
I want to learn more - what should I study?
Logic - Try some Mining followed by Smithing.
Magic - How about Magic and Runecrafting?
Neither - That's up to you; depends on what you find interesting.
If I reach out far enough I can grab the sun.
Logic - Don't be silly! You'd get burnt!
Magic - Can't see why not, anything is possible.
Neither - Well the sun is not actually there, it's where it used to be!
Am I a creature of magic or a creature of logic?
Logic - Everything has a reason, even if you don't know what it is.
Neither - Probably a bit of both.
Magic - Your very existence speaks of mystical forces.
Which do you believe in?
Magic - Magic.
Neither - I'm too laid back to really care, mate.
Logic - Logic.
The Homunculus scares off the alchemists
Once more, return to the ground floor and the Homunculus will appear and scare off the alchemists. The Homunculus will speak with you again and tell you to meet him in the basement of the tower.
You will be granted access to the dungeon. You can get in there by using the trapdoor on the south wall. Go into the dungeon and talk to the Homunculus once more to complete the quest.
When you are talking to 'The Guns' about his beer, your conversation text misspelled "beer" as "bear". This has been corrected.
Once the quest is completed (you see the reward scroll) it is no longer necessary to wear the Builders' clothes to enter the tower (e.g. for the activity afterwards)
When you get any builders' clothing item, a message appears: "Try the beckon emote while wearing an item of builders' clothing!" It will be different and you can hear the whistling
Bonafido states - "Hahaha, don't be a plonka!" which is a variation of the term plonker. It is a British and Australian derogatory slang for a very stupid person. Made popular in the British TV sitcom "Only Fools and Horses" (1981–1996, 2001–2003) in which the main character Derek "Del Boy" Trotter often referred to his daft brother Rodney as "a right plonker".
The Homunculus of alchemy were created by combining parts of different animals to create a hybrid.
The symbol above each altar in the basement is the 'Man in the Maze', or I'itoi - a creator god of Native American legend.
Upon examining some floating vials, the player receives the message "Oh, oh, oh, it's magic!", a reference to the song Magic.
After the long cut scene with the Homunculus brought to life and after talking with Effigy, the player quotes Mom saying experience teaches fools which is a old Latin quote - experientia docet stultos.
After the quest, the room north of Homunculus in the basement has an interactive light floor which turns blue when you walk on it, similar to the disco dance floor in Saturday Night Fever or the music video Billie Jean.
'The Guns', builder weightlifter, counts up to 10,000. He will then lose count, saying numbers such as, 10,004, 10,283, and 23,330. He then starts over again at 1.
In the 3rd Chaos Elemental letter (Postbag letter number 15), the elemental states;
"In the basement of the tower of life you'll find the homunculus; he's crossing a lobster with a jubbly! A spider with a sardine! A newt with a rooster!" The Chaos Elemental always hints to future updates, and the statement above refers directly to the Tower of Life quest.
The satchels, a reward from the activity of this quest, are actually fairly useless and were created by Jagex to test out a new kind of scripting, where what is being stored is in the item itself rather than the players database or as a separate item for each change (e.g. Basket of Strawberries or Amulet of Glory Charges).
The tea flasks, another reward from the activity, are slightly more useful. A flask can hold the contents of up to five Cups of tea, which saves inventory space for players who use tea. However, the flasks do not stack when placed in the bank. This can take up valuable space if you wish to have several flasks.
You may get additional triangle sandwiches by pickpocketing the builders (except Bonafacio) after the quest. Also, if you lost your builder's clothes, you may get them back the same way as you did in the quest.
It has been noted that there is a tension or possible moral dilemma between the quest and its activity. In the quest, the alchemists callously and cruelly create and treat the Homunculus, for their own gain. You object to the suffering and free the Homunculus, which scares the alchemists away. After the quest, if you play the Creature Creation activity, you create your own hybrid creatures, with the Homunculus's help, for your own gain (their drops). It is unknown if Jagex created this dilemma on purpose (such as to show that you may be no better than the alchemists if you elect to play the activity) or accidentally.
If you have completed the Making History quest, Effigy refers to the outpost, which was going to be their new alchemy lab. Your character quickly ends the conversation upon hearing this.
The examine info on the barricade on the top floor is "Thou shalt not pass!" a reference to The Lord of the Rings, or the Black Knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which the Black Knight interrupts the king many times, stating "THOU SHALT NOT PASS!"
If you "use" beer with 'the guns' before starting the quest he will give you his shirt.
Upon completing the quest, your adverture's log will say "As I learned the contrast between magic and logic, the homunculus was created. I set out to help him find his place in this world."File:Tower of Life Water Flow Glitch.png
Left: The water flow appears normal. Center: the water flow seems to only obscure a section of the wall. Right: a player is visible behind the wall.
Upon closer inspection on this quest, Tower of Life has numerous similarities to the Japanese anime, Fullmetal Alchemist.
If you look in the mini map in the dungeon, the shape of an unholy symbol can be seen, contradicting the fact that this is a Guthix-themed building.
At the base of the Symbol of life altars within the Tower of Life dungeon, there appears to be Zaros symbols.
There is a graphical glitch in the water flowing outside on the second floor of the tower: the water will allow you to see through the wall in front of which it flows, but not any other wall (see the image for clarity).
Talk to Effigy near the tower south of Ardougne, next to the Necromancer's tower.
