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Dealing With Scabaras Quest
By: Data/Loggy
This quest is members-only.
Start Point: Speak to the High Priest of Icthlarin in Sophanem
Quest Requirements: Must have completed the Contact, The Feud, and Zogre Flesh Eaters Quests
Skill Requirements: Level 50 Agility, Level 21 Firemaking, Level 60 Thieving & Strength; Level 60 Crafting recommended but not required
Items Required: Camel Dung, Pyramid Top (obtained atop the Agility Pyramid, 10 Golden Items from Pyramid Plunder, extra logs (varying depending on your Firemaking level); Keris (reward from the Contact Quest), Desert Survival Equipment, Anti-Poison, & Relicym's Balm recommended; as well as (of course) high level food & combat equipment
Combat: Must be able to defeat a level 207 Giant Scarab as well as fend off and defeat various other enemies varying in levels (100-200)
To start this quest, speak with the High Priest of Icthlarin in Sophanem, which can be quickly reached by taking the carpet from Shantay Pass to Pollnivneach, then from the other hub station there to Sophanem.
He will tell you he has grave news, and asks you to identify a corpse. Head to the second floor of the temple, where you'll be asked about the corpse of the young lady, but you won't recognise her. You'll begin talking about the embalming, but then - SHOCKER! - the chick isn't dead.
You'll chat a bit, and the priest wishes she was actually dead, though of course in a comical sense! You'll recognise the woman as she speaks as Maisa, the spy who helped you during the Contact! Quest. Eventually the cutscene will end, leaving with you with Maisa. Go over and speak to her. You'll ask her why she was thought dead and being rude to the priest. Ask her why she is here, and she tells you about how she has been researching avenging her partner, Kaleef (who was found dead during Contact), from the Scabaras, the terrible beasts below Sophanem that killed him. Ask her if you can help.
And of course, Maisa will ask you to do the most dangerous part of whatever she is up to, which in this case is investigating some tunnels she found that lead to the deadly Scabaras and their kin. She'll ask you to talk to the High Priest before you go gallabanding after scarabs in case of diplomatic problems. How thoughtful. All he'll tell you is to not kill the Scabaras High Priest should you run into him, and that there are some researchers already looking for the scabaras to the east. Exit Sophanem, and head east into the desert, until you reach some cliffs. Walk around them till you come to a swamp.
You'll have to select to 'Pass-Through' whatever reeds block your path. Eventually you'll come to a fallen pillar blocking some stairs. Hop over it and head on up the stairs, then have a chat with Lead Archaeologist Abigail. You'll ask her for help venturing underground, and she agrees, but only if you assist them in their dealings with a certain Simon Templeton.
Before that even, you have to prove your mathematical skills via a few questions. You'll have to answer four math problems, and they are very simple, especially if you have a calculator around. In these problems, make sure your answer (if it is a decimal) is rounded down always to the nearest whole number. After you answer everything correctly, talk to Abigail again. She tells you that you need to give the following items to Simon Templeton:
- One Golden Artefact from the Agility Pyramid (see the guide for more info)
- Ten Golden Objects from the Pyramid Plunder Mini-Game (see the guide for more info)
- Random number of 'antique' Bronze Items (read below)
'Antique' Bronze Items
If you have level 60 Crafting, this part will not take much time. You will be told to obtain a certain number of Bronze Items (maybe longswords, chain mail, etc.) If you don't have whatever Bronze Item is requested, you can purchase them easily from the whatever store type (for Longswords, go to the Varrock Sword Shop, etc.) With 60 Crafting, take the items, along with Camel Dung (see below), and use the dung on the items to make them look antique.
Otherwise, buy the items, put them in the crate you are given, along with a bucket of Camel Dung (see below), and hand it over to the archaeologist assistant. He will do the job for you, but it will take a while.
Camel Dung
To obtain Camel Dung, head to Pollnivneach. Find Ali the Kebab Seller, and talk to him, and purchase a bottle of his hot sauce. Then, head to the nearby house with the Camel Pen in the backyard. Use the sauce with one of the troughs, then wait a couple seconds, and one of the camels will (disgustingly enough) take a poo in front of you. Use buckets with the dung to pick it up.
Now Where Were We?
When you have all the needed items, go see Simon Templeton outside the Agility Pyramid, and use the three sets of items on him. He'll give you a receipt to show to the archaeologists. Head back through the swamps, and talk to Abigail. She'll be happy for your help, but says that they still need to finish some notes on the Scabarites, and you have to fill the diary they give you. To do this, you have to use 'Scabarite Notes' on the diary, which are dropped randomly by the mummies & Scabaras Warriors found around and on the cliffs in the area.
It shouldn't take too long to gather the four notes. It is recommended to simply kill the mummies west of the archaeologists rather than the Scabaras Warriors near the swamps, because the Scabaras Warriors are all in a multi-combat zone, while the mummies are not. When you have filled the diary, head back to Abigail and have a chat. You'll be given a key into the underground area. Head north into the area with zombies and skeletons until you find a staircase. Head down it.
There will a Clay Golem nearby. Have a chat with him. He is surprised to see any humans alive anymore - he thought they were all dead, or at least the Ulleks, who (if you read the journal) retreated to these secret tunnels during wars in the desert. The Golem will tell you how the Scabarites, who came into the tunnels, changed the locking mechanisms so that it's hard for anyone to come in or out. So here's the deal.
The above map gives a layout of the four rooms. The golem can work the furnace to supply energy into each room, and supplying energy in any room allows you to enter and helps you get past the obstacle to pull the levers. Once you've pullen each lever, you can progress forward through the locked door. You must tell the Golem which room to power first, and this room gets the most power. The next room gets less power, the next one even less, and the last one the least power of all. Use the table below for help.
Map Room | Obstacle | Skills Used | Room-Powering Advantage |
Blue Room | Giant Scarab | Combat Skills | Deals Additional damage to Giant Scarab |
Purple Room | Balancing Pipe | Agility | Makes Pipe Easier To Cross |
Yellow Room | Mysterious Mechanism (puzzle) | Thieving | Lowers Thieving Level Required To Adjust Puzzle |
Red Room | Giant Lever | Strength | Makes Lever Easier To Pull Down |
* You MUST defeat the Giant Scarab (level 207), and if you leave the area, another one will appear. The Giant Scarab has a melee attack and a much weaker Magic Attack, so Protect From Melee Prayer is recommended.
Before you get started, however, you must fuel the furnace. There is a fuel box next to the furnace, with regular, Teak, and Magic Logs in it. Higher level logs, which will generate more power, require a higher Firemaking Level to put in the furnace. Magic Logs, for example, require 95 Firemaking; Teak Logs require 55.
When you have fueled the furnace, you have to think about your skills. If you have a high combat level and great equipment, you might want to add power to the Scarab room last, and thus giving it the least power. If your agility is not that great, you might want to spend the most power on the balancing pipe. The room with the puzzle, however, may at first seem difficult and frustrate you, but it is much easier if you just think about it. The puzzle is a big, 6 by 6 grid, with 36 runes on it, randomly placed and covered.
The large number in the bottom right hand corner of the puzzle screen indicates how many more three runes you can uncover. When you click a gray rune, it reveals it. You can reveal three at a time, then a count is taken from the counter. There are three runes of the same type on the board - so, there are three fire runes, three cosmic runes, etc. The trick to this game is remembering where each rune is, which can be done by taking screen shots or writing it down or anything like that. To the right of the puzzle, there are a few mechanisms. Depending on your Thieving, you can click these mechanisms to give you extra turns! However, if your Thieving isn't high enough, it costs you a turn. Increasing the power to this room lowers the required Thieving level.
When you've overcome these trials, venture forward. Be careful - one or two steps into the path there is a trap on the floor, so you should try to disarm it, otherwise you will be diseased (like from the Zogre Flesh Eaters Quest), which only a Relicym's Balm can ail (this hints to the fact that the Scabaras were probably created in a similar way that the zogres were created in the Zogre Flesh Eaters Quest). Look out for these traps in the upcoming area, which is filled with Scabaras Lancers, Mages, Archers, and Locust Riders. Run through the swarm to the northeast corner of the dungeon, where you'll find the High Priest of Scabaras.
Ask him what is going on, and he'll go on ranting about how the Scabaras have to purge everybody. Ask if the Devourer (who was an evil desert god thing) aided in ordering the Scabaras to do such a thing, which will lead to the High Priest attacking you. Stand your ground, and after a couple of blows, the Scabaras will stop attacking you and keep talking.
Ask about converting to learn some things about the complicated Scabaras religion.
Basically anything leads to you being attacked by the High Priest, who reminds me of a little kid with a low attention span (and a beetle for a head). Keep asking questions and fending off his ridiculous attacks until you have exhausted all options. First talk of fighting, but when you can, ask about the Scabaras ways or if the High Priest is confused or whatnot. Eventually, he will seem to be himself (he is actually peaceful), and vows that his people will no longer attack others, lest they invade their nests. Head back to the High Priest in Sophanem to complete this quest!
Congratulations! Quest complete!
Rewards: 1 Quest Point, 7,000 Agility, Prayer, Strength, & Thieving XP, ability to craft an Enchanted Water Tiara, access to the Scabaras Nests (the place with all the Scabaras Warriors)
Enchanted Water Tiara: With level 50 Magic & Runecrafting, you can create an Enchanted Water Tiara by using Water Runes with a regular Water Tiara. This enchanted tiara automatically protects you from the heat and thirst of the desert. All water runes used on the tiara will be absorbed by it, but you can get them back by selecting the 'destroy' option on the tiara.
Scabaras Research Journal: If you fill this journal up by finding more Scabarite Notes, dropped by Scabaras and found in chests in the Scabaras Nests, you can return it to Abigail the Archaeologist for a reward of 10,000 coins
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