- This may be Jossed. Koschei the Deathless is a real mythological figure.
- Confirmed! As of February 18 2013, a miniquest was added to the game in which you help Koschei recover his memories. He then reveals himself as Kharshai, and chases off Enakhra and Akthanakos, declaring himself neutral. He also improves Balmung for you.
- Potentially partially confirmed, as there are plans for a quest where Zamorak assembles a team to steal the Stone of Jas from Sliske. Whether or not the player is a part of this team is up in the air, but Saradomin is presumably not a part of it either way.
- Confirmed, this is the plot of "Dishonour Among Thieves".
- If the player gains access to god powers him/herself, even by ascending to godhood, he/she will be unable to use them.
- Confirmed by Word of God; the Player Character can nullify godly powers but cannot ascend to godhood themselves.
- Confirmed, in a sense. Lord Iorwerth and his followers were planning to empower the Dark Lord, who is (or was) a fragment of Seren. The new leader of the Iorwerths helps in the ritual to regrow Prifddinas, and in reconstructing Seren in "The Light Within".
- Of course, Sliske will not keep his promise to give away the Stone of Jas.
- Possibly confirmed. The next World Event will be Bandos versus Armadyl, and the loser will die.
- Ultimately confirmed — by the players.
Would enough power have been left to propel Sliske to godhood? Or is it more in his character to keep everyone guessing as to just how dangerous he really is?
- Was it confirmed that killing a god transfers their power to you, or does it just have an instant Touched by Vorlons effect (as opposed to Elder Artifacts slowly granting godhood over a long period of time)? Zamorak ascended to godhood by taking out Zaros, but Zaros just needs a proper body to get his former power back.
- Confirmed after Fate of the Gods, where Sliske offers one straight answer.
During the Broken Home quest, the player uncovers an ancient insane asylum from the Second Age, located in the holy Zarosian city of Senntisten. The player's name is listed in the asylum log. This could be a horror effect, like much of the quest, but it could also hint at the player going back in time.
More importantly though is Robert the Strong. Robert the Strong defeated the Dragonkin at some point in the Fourth Age. Based on his items left in the realm of Kethsi, Robert probably used Bane weapons in order to do so. But how did Robert know to get there in the first place? For that matter, how did Robert even know to leave a note to the player with the Temple Knights directing them to Bob the Cat, and then to Kethsi? How did he even know he would be a cat in the future?
The answer is simple: you, the player, told him. One of the items left by Robert on Kethsi is a note to himself, which you must give to him when you see him, but not while he's a cat. The note tells Robert all of the information in the paragraph above, implying that when you give Robert the note, he will not be aware of any of it. It is possible that Bob will become Robert again, but without his memory, but it is also possible that the player will travel back in time to give Robert the information. One way this might be achieved is via the magic of Daemonheim, which is known to warp time and space, as well as being affiliated with the Dragonkin, Kerapac in particular.
- Confirmed: You go back in time again during The Light Within.
- Jossed. The Elder Gods are using Gielinor as their own personal breeding ground.
- Guthix has been in Runescape since before either Saradomin, Zamorak, or any other god (or anything at all) has been in Runescape. He created it, for crying out loud!
- Actually, if you complete the Meeting History quest, you learn that he found it, shaped it and invited humans into it. The people you meet actually met with and spoke with him face to face.
- If you look far enough into the storyline, Zamorak is actually the Ascended Fanboy. Also, the Runescape gods are much more like the Hindu gods than Christianity. Guthix is Brahma, Saradomin is Vishnu, and Zamorak is Shiva.
- The truth is he used to be mortal, but unlike Zamorak, he was a member of a peaceful race, and attained godhood by stabbing a sleeping god with a god weapon after the rest of his race was wiped out. He then found Gielinor, and attempted to build a society without the intervention of gods. The rest is history.
- Jossed, Zamoroak is an Ascended Fanboy, Guthix is the one who created the world, Saradomin is a Knight Templar, Bandos just wants to fight and Armadyl is the god of Justice. There is also Zaros, Marimbo, Seren, Menaphite Pantheon and The elder gods. Zaros is the god Zamorak defeated to become a god, although it now seems to be that it was all an Evil Plan by him so he could Take Over the World. Seren is the godess of the elves, Marimbo is the ogd of monkeys. The Menaphite Pantheon are a group of desert gods and demigods, and the elder gods, who were there before all the other gods
- Jossed, the Stone is an artifact of the Elder Gods, created as a source of power and knowledge.
- Jossed. It was Jhallan.
- Lucien dies too.
- Jossed. It was Jhallan.
- Jossed, Guthix is dead.
Or at least, superpowered aggressive side. If you look at the timeline of Gielinor, you'll notice that Guthix was never around when Zaros was; and it's been stated that out of all the gods, it was thought that only Guthix could match Zaros' strength, and even then he'd need all the other gods' help to actually beat him. Additionally, in the God Letters, when a player questioned Guthix about Zaros, it responded with this:
- "...I know not of the being thou speak of. Certain events that occurred during my slumber are unknown to me, for my mind was occupied elsewhere in my slumber, and I had but tangential influence and knowledge of the events of this land. The name seems almost familiar, and I hath a feeling that there are reasons why I should know it, but alas, truthfully I do not."
The whole paragraph just reeks of foreshadowing, but of particular note is the sense of vague familiarity Guthix seems to feel, hinting at a connection between the two. Guthix is usually a pretty passive god, represents nature, and seems to favor forbearance and the idea of maintaining the status quo. Zaros, as the god of control, ambition, and will, represents the opposite force of balance: civilization, changing the status quo, and ruthless, willful action. Where Zaros is the unstoppable force, Guthix is the immovable object. Where nature maintains its own balance, the balance of civilization must be willfully maintained. In fact, the split that created Zaros likely arose from Guthix' contact with other sapient beings, such as humans, who possessed enough ambition and willpower to necessitate a shift in Guthix' personal balance, in order to match his realm. Unable to reconcile these contradictory aspects, a schism occurred within the god, resulting in dual personalities, each the embodiment of a different balance.
- Jossed. Guthix has been sleeping under Gielinor the whole time, while Zaros is on another plane requiring a portal to speak with him.
- Lucien's death caused a Strange Power to be set off (long story), which only happens when a Mahjarrat dies.
- Additionally, though you don't see the body, if you speak to Kuradel about her father after the quest she reveals that she knows Lucien is dead, as she did see the body after the battle. She was fighting the Glacors in the cave near the ritual area while the ritual was taking place.
- Jagex mods have confirmed that Sliske is indeed loyal to Zaros, but that wouldn't rule out an alliance with the Kin.
- Jossed. Sliske dragged the Dragonkin who was holding the Staff of Armadyl into the Shadow Realm and stole it. Then he used the Dragonkin's connection to the Stone of Jas to track it down....
- Jossed. Marmaros was maddened by an encounter with a Hope Devourer, which is basically one of the behemoth boss monsters if it mated with a Dementor from Harry Potter. His last letter before whatever happened was leading up to the fight with the Hope Devourer, and a Postbag letter had a clue which led to the ingame sentence "Marmaros had a close encounter with a Prayer eating behemoth".
- Jossed. Jagex mods have confirmed that the Frostenhorn is not the Elder Horn. However, in the Player Owned Ports minigame, the lore for the Eastern Lands mentions that Quin had acquired a horn of immense power, and demanded to be worshipped. After completing the stories for the Whaler, Occultist, and Assassin, Quin is killed, so what comes of her horn, if it is an Artifact, is unknown.
- That last part is Jossed. Tuska has been stated to be alive and ravaging other planes. In a future quest, the player will team up with the Raptor to hunt it down.
- Ultimately Jossed in that both Bandos and Tuska are now dead, and lore gives no indication that they were ever interconnected.
But there are few things in the world that Saradomin would be so interested in. We know he wants the elder artifacts. What else can bring the dead back to life? The last time it happened, it involved the Tears of Guthix, which were in close proximity to what may be the most powerful artifact, the Stone of Jas.
Now the Player Character has already slain the Bandos Avatar, which was on the lowest tier of godhood, and knocked Bandos himself down a tier in the process. Depending on the player's preferences, they may already have taken down the Avatars of Creation or Destruction in Soul Wars. In other quests, the player has also touched the Stone of Jas (twice!) and been gifted by Guthix with god-resistant abilities.
- Regarding the Avatars, that wasn't done with an Elder Artifact, which is where godhood comes from. As for the Stone, Lucien used the Stone far more than the player, and he did not ascend to godhood.
- Jossed. Remember, Runescape isn't a A God Is You game, so allowing the Player Character to become a full fledged god would be a Game-Breaker. Word of God states that thanks to World Guardianship, the Player Character is the only character that cannot become a god, specifically because it nullifies divine magic.
- Possibly Jossed. During Hero's Welcome, the Dragonkin mention how they were able to sense when Bandos died despite him not being a known user of the Stone of Jas. This in turn made them aware that they had an indirect connection to the users of any Artifacts and to other Artifacts themselves, which they weaponize in order to kill V.
- I doubt it has that specific effect, since Bandos came from a ridiculously warlike race in the first place and Armadyl already had a lot of reasons to hate Bandos. But yes, it wouldn't surprise me if his mace were an Elder Artifact, and most of them do have drawbacks of some kind. Notice the green glow when Armadyl grabs it. Plus, there is the fact that Armadyl kept it at all. I mean, the only other reasons for that would be to stuff it in his trophy case or donate it to a museum.
- Jossed, the mace was merely a symbol of Bandos's power. Armadyl had his own reasons to smash Bandos's head in. This reason has yet to be revealed, but the mods suggested that it may have been a warning to Bandos's followers.
- In a lore discussion, it was hinted that the purpose of bashing Bandos's head in was a message from Jagex to the players that, yes, Bandos is dead, in order to prevent Wild Mass Guessing that he is alive.
- Possibly Jossed. Mah, the Creator God of Freneskae, is barely intelligent and seemingly unable to leave the place.
- Confirmed Jossed in Plague's End - The Dark Lord is Seren's fascination with death banished from her mind.
- Jossed. The actual mechanism of Tuska's demise is charging a mystical spear with Anima from planetary fragments surrounding Tuska in her flight to Gielinor, and then stabbing the god with it. Vorago then finished her off.
- If you're saying that Teragard is our Earth, then that was jossed in the One of a Kind FAQ thread on the forums.
To be fair, we don't really know what mechanics the battle against Tuska and her Mooks (the Airut) is going to involve, nor which characters will show up to lend a hand, meddle or at least spectate. But it is clear that she is an apocalyptic threat far beyond the godly battles that have caused localized wreckage in-game (at least that we have seen; the God Wars were allegedly far worse).
Tuska has flat-out destroyed multiple other worlds and devoured their life-force in a series of Curb Stomp Battles to this point. There is every reason to believe she will at least cause serious and unprecedented damage before the players' collective efforts can bring her rampage to an end, if Jagex doesn't go full-on Cerebus Syndrome and let her actually win somehow.
As an in-universe rationale, the damage may be so profound that the world undergoes a shift (induced or otherwise) that reshapes it in response to being brought to the brink of destruction. Jagex may have plans to use this event to Retool the in-game physical universe to bring it more in line with modern programming capabilities and with their vision for future game and lore updates, as opposed to gradually adding onto it piece by piece as has been done to date.
- Jossed. Thankfully, the players beat Tuska, so we will never find out.
- Jossed. The Barrows sister isn't a blood relative, doesn't exist until the end of the relevant quest, and it's Linza.
I think Vampyres are the result of two things. One, a Vampire gorging itself on human blood; much more than it can digest at once. This results in the blood cells of the human being directly assimilated by the vampire's cells. This triggers the metamorphosis into a vampyre.
The other -and probably the case for most- is humans absorbing vampire blood. When a human is close to death in Meiyerditch, they're either force fed vampire blood or they have it injected into their veins. Magic may be used to allow the human to absorb the blood. This causes the human to transform into a vampyre, as well as develop a vampiric Split Personality.
In both cases, they must continue to drink human blood in order to maintain their powers. If they rely on the blood of any other animal for too long they'll devolve into regular vampires. A vampyre reply in a postbag claimed feeding on humans as opposed to cows was a matter of honor, but this is likely a lie to cover up their actual NEED for humans.
- You forgot about the Icyene, though. The Icyene are a winged race, similar to angels, and the last known one surviving is in the God Wars Dungeon; Commander Zilyana. There's lots of evidence that Meiyerditch used to be ruled by the Icyene back in the day, before Drakan's forces took over. So when you put two and two together, you may realize that the Vyrewatch were Icyene that have been corrupted by Drakan in some way or another.
- The Icyene were probably converted the same way as humans; blood drained to near-death and infused with vampire blood.
- Actually the Daeyalt refinery (though Haemalchemy is definitely involved in it), and Icyene are converted into Wyrds instead of standard Vampyres. Vyrewatch are explicitly human-born. Also, ex-Queen Efaritay is confirmed to be a second alive Icyene (and was Drakan's prisoner before his death in The Lord of Vampyrium.) Safalaan is half-Icyene, too.
- The Icyene were probably converted the same way as humans; blood drained to near-death and infused with vampire blood.
- Jossed on multiple levels. Vampires were retconned into feral Vampyres. Human blood is not special, just tastier than other blood (the fact Morytania's only known cows are undead—and Vampyres can't normally cross the Salve or go overseas without special means like Haemalchemically-transfused Icyene blood (where even that fails after River of Blood [with the Salve barrier turning them feral when the Super Guthix Balance is infused into the Salve, and *outright reverting human-born vampires to human form* when the Extreme Guthix Balance is infused])—likely doesn't help either). The Human to Vampyre transformation does involve Haemalchemy, though citizens seem to be captured for Vampyrization regardless of their closeness to death. Ivandis's journal and Safalaan's statements on his time as a Wyrd give more information about vampyric transformation, which suggest psychological changes (but not a split personality—rather, it alters the host's personality over time, rather rapidly for Wyrds.)
From a Watsonian perspective, Heart of Stone gives a mechanism for how Mah will come to Gielinor. Mah is currently prowling the Abyss, and a large amount of Anima is currently pouring into the Abyss from Gielinor. This trail of Anima could be what brings Mah to Gielinor.
- Jossed. Mah is dead, killed on Freneskae in "Children of Mah", after trying to remotely and indirectly interfere with Gielinor.
According to one theory, the faceless warrior known The Raptor was actually a bunch of penguins in a set of armor.
- Jossed, Jagex revealed that The Raptor is a singular male character.
- I'll challenge this: Given that many different kinds of magic exists in the game world, the idea that your character magically materializes out of thin air makes more sense in-universe than saying a computer program did it. As for the characters and NPCs having Medium Awareness, the only plausible explanation is that everyone is somehow psychic to the point of noticing game elements they might not otherwise spot, such that they have a few lucid moments.
- If this turns out to be true, then chances are that the previous life was in fact a Mahjarrat. That would explain why the player character can fight the Mahjarrat Khazard on equal term, as just one Mahjarrat can essentially be a One-Man Army.
- The above is most likely Jossed; the Mahjarrat are followers of either Zaros or Zamorak. The Balance Elemental stated you were once a follower of Guthix. Unless your character converted in their past life...
- The Snape Grass is the Catalyst, and it is more of spiritual clarity, since Snape Grass is only found in Waterbirth Islands where psuedo Eldritch Abomination creatures exist. After all it is used to cure hangovers
- It can also be found on a small and relatively safe peninsula in Asgarnia. However, its use in hangover cures seems to reinforce the original theory.
- The Snape Grass is the Catalyst, and it is more of spiritual clarity, since Snape Grass is only found in Waterbirth Islands where psuedo Eldritch Abomination creatures exist. After all it is used to cure hangovers
- She could be a mahjarrat, or worse, an agent of the Dragonkin. The ring was the source of her power(perhaps even containing a fragment of the Stone of Jas), and she was quite weak without it; the ring also had a curse on it that prevented her from touching it. Your touch, for whatever reason, broke the curse. (literal Nice Job Breaking It, Hero) In her future appearance she will prove to be extremely powerful, and by the end will kill the Wise Old Man, Zeneviva, Sir Vant, Vannaka, Wizard Mizgog, Korasi/Jessika(depending on who you saved before), and your pet cat who you will need for the quest. A good quest title would be "No Good Deed".
- However, the lyrics in Valerio's song hint he had feelings for Anna and that she joined the order because a preacher told her dancing was a sin. More likely she simply became obsessed with her beliefs.
- The Effects of Glouphrie
- Argento died for some unknown reason, causing Glouphrie to cover his death purely for the sake of preventing the Gnomish race from being slaughtered by Humans, who are possibly less likely to be fooled by illusions due to being more intelligent than Goblins.
- Hazelmere noticed that Argento wasn't speaking, thus he had Oaknock devise a machine that uncovers illusions and discovered that he was dead, everyone expected Glouphrie of course, Under King Healthorg's orders, Glouphrie was exiled due to 'Killing' Argento with no proof of his killer, thus he had to make sure that the upcoming election of Bolrie (old King of Tree Gnome Village) vs Argenthorg rolled in Bolrie's favor, by mudslinging accusations of the latter being a Human Sympathizer, History Repeats itself however, as Yewnock's machine reveals that Bolrie's advisor was Glouphrie, shaming Bolrie and stepping down as King, Argenthorg became the new king of the Gnome Stronghold by default, and Bolrie's brother Bolren took up position of the King of the Tree Gnome Village in his abscence.
- Whilst all that was happening, somehow Glouphrie, or Glouck began tampering with the Anima Mundi to produce durable Mutant creatures, which caused pollution by dumping the waste in the southern forests of Isafdar.
- The Elves half of the story
- They started to go for the east during the Gnomes were repelling the Goblins and only managed to reach to the Tree Gnome Stronghold years after the Goblins left, whilst they were there, Ilfeen gave the Gnome King a pair of Crystal fonts as a treaty offering, and a Crystal Seed to his advisor Oaknock.
- Shortly before the God Wars broke out, the Iowerth Clan broke a seal and caused Argento's death, unsure that Humans were skilled enough to cast magic that destructive, and that the Elves are at peace with them, they decided it was an inside job, thus they accused Glouphrie.
- Once pollution started to appear, the Iowerth clan managed to start to degrade Prifddinas to crystal seeds due to Seren's weakened connection to the Anima Mundi, King Tyras had only recently discovered the Elven Lands for a search for Treasure and Prosperity, though the Iowerth elves and the Mourners are playing King Lathas for a fool, by taking West Ardougne citizens to be slaves, digging for the Temple of Light.
- I wouldn't be surprised if the player is presumably piecing bits of information together to find out that Glouphrie was only guilty of being weary of Humans, justifying why he hid Argento's death, and that the real villains were the Iowerth Clan, who may have caused his death. (reason being that the Anima Mundi is a uncontrollable power of godly proportions, breaking a seal may cause irreplaceable damage, which Seren might have used to deter people from abusing the information held within the Undercity)
In the Holy Book of Saradomin, the Last Rites passage reads: "Thy cause was false, thy skills did lack. See you in Lumbridge when you get back!" Now, who is one of the first people who will see a player after they respawn in Lumbridge? He even has "Lumbridge" in his name, for crying out loud!
As for how Saradomin can get away with this after Guthix banned gods from manifesting in the world, maybe he's allowed to talk to players, as long as he doesn't interfere directly. Or maybe the Guide is just an "Avatar" for Saradomin, like the Bandos Avatars of the quest The Chosen Commander. Or maybe Guthix just can't see through Saradomin's cunning disguise.
On the other hand, there's still that Time Capsule that the Goblin Scribe placed somewhere in the mines, the series may have ended for now, but what if we need it later, perhaps in a future quest revamp (like the Troll Warzone), something for a new skill, or possibly a plothook for the potential survivors of General Bonehelm's Troops it was mentioned that most of the survivors surrendered, but it's possible that there may have been troops further behind who didn't get crushed, because he was leading the attack. (so sort of a sandwich in a sandwich...thingy.
A potentially large one is the Dragonkin, after killing Lucien Ritual of the Mahjarrat, the quest journal mentions that the shattered head was carried away by Glacors which is perfectly understandable....but if you speak to a Guardian of Armadyl under Mc Grubbor's Woods your character mentions that although the staff's orb was smashed, they may still have the staff part....overall the staff itself has loads of Chekov's Gun potential...
- It may still have the cloaking enchantment on it so Gods possibly cannot detect it, it was used in someway so that Zamorak acquired his Godly powers by siphoning from Zaros, If the Dragonkin is planning to do this to siphon their "Curse" into other races, or acquiring godly power to use the stone themselves without harm is yet to be seen..
- In regards to the Staff, its fate is known. In the cave where Lucien hid the Stone of Jas, you can find Glacors and fight them for some good drops. Among them are Shards of Armadyl, which come from the original Staff's orb. You can either combine a certain number of shards to create a crude replica orb, which can be used to make an Armadyl Battlestaff for magic combat, OR you can use the shards to create Armadyl Runes, which are used for casting the Storm of Armadyl spell.
The residual energy of the Cold left by the Frostenhorn shall be a replacement for it in the large scale ritual, Falador's shady past primarily as a Saradominist city may have covered over anything remotely Armadyllian by tapping into the magicks of the Clan Portals...or the White Knight's altar by the Hymmnal placed there (by Falador Elite Players).
The Mage Training Arena is a building made completely out of Rune Essence thus could be used as a Giant Relic, and finally; The Daemonheim fortress was able to let out a multi-realm emote to all players, shocking them into eventually discovering that a Mahjarrat someone died down in there, thus it would be the "Barrows Icon" of the ritual.
- And remember, Magic is cast using the stored energy in runestones.Imagine the ability to gather this energy anywhere combined with a high magic level... sufficient skill in the combination could lead to Charles Atlas Superpower eventually approaching Reality Warping levels, as you can draw runic energy from the world itself, and then use it to immediately cast spells without needing runes, channeling the energy directly!
- The Moonclan Manual states that magic comes from the caster, the runes being a tool to focus the different types of magical energy. More runes is not the same as more power. The Moon Clan themselves use magic without runes in everyday life.
It's already been proven that you can take on a God, due to the Chosen Commander, and that you can take on Mahjarrat (due to Fight Arena). Zamorak is only a false God, who used the Staff of Armadyl to bring down Zaros. As of Ritual of the Mahjarrat, that staff has been broken. Since Zaros wasn't killed (as per the Temple at Senntisten), it's easy to assume that the power Zamorak gained from him was released once the staff was broken.
Every other major God has a reason for wanting this guy dead: Zaros wants revenge, Guthix wants balance to be restored (as evidenced by Juna's dialogue once you summarize the Temple at Senntisten) after Zamorak disrupted the natural order, and Saradomin has been wanting him dead ever since he took power.
- Looking a bit more likely. As of The World Wakes, the player now has the ability to resist the power of gods.
During a miniquest, you hunt down four of Khazard's scouts and give them a message. Based on some nasty comments they make about humans, it's clear they are not human. But, the Ritual of the Mahjarrat quest, as well as Zemouregal's notes on the Mahjarrat, make it clear that while Khazard is a Mahjarrat, the scouts are not. So what are they? My guess is that they are half breeds: half Mahjarrat, half human. It's been confirmed that Lucien had a daughter in this way, so it is certainly possible. Lucien's daughter Moia had an extended lifespan, the ability to use Shadow magic to teleport right behind people to stab them, and could absorb memories, making her a useful spy. The scouts were, essentially, spies. How these half breeds are created is a mystery. Either they are engineered in some kind of lab, or there are some very unfortunate human women in Khazard's base.
- All living things in Gielinor are connected to the Anima Mundi (well, at least all species introduced by Guthix). The Warped creatures in the sewers of Arposandra were created by taking regular birds and tortoises and cutting that connection.
- Alternative: The World Wakes canonically takes place after, among other quests, The Chosen Commander, in which the player assists the cave goblins in actively defying their god. Guthix was aware of everything during the quest, so it's possible that he let the player in specifically because of his/her history of Naytheism.
- I always assumed it was because of becoming the Tree whisperer after the events of The Grand Tree, Spirit Trees for all intents and purposes are probably more than just a link to each over than just the anima mundi, which eventually blown to saving Incomitatus during Path of Glouphrie, the main character is probably the Anima Mundi's next choice of Guardian after Hazelmere's death.
- The Stone of Jas is a Life-tuning device, the Elder Gods can use it to specifically sculpt life to their quality and standards consistently; the side effect is that it's an Evolutionary device which explains how V grew from a Neanderthal into a fully sized human, the drawback to false users is invoking the Dragonkin.
- The Elder Sword to the Elder Gods is possibly a dimensional space creation device or possibly a way to create gateways for throwing incomplete or failed planets into the Chaotic Void, to a regular god, this ability is used for transportation. the drawbacks are unkown so far....
- The Elder Kiln is a terraforming device to sculpt the planet, and to also act as a voice for the Elder Gods who were presumably unable to speak to mortals, the drawback seems to be that the Tok Haar are simply protectors of some kind.
- Elder Horn may possibly be a sapience-granting device, to implant the basis of laws and morals into the minds of other beings, due to not being a God of anykind, the best Quin could use it for it to increase her sealife-controlling powers, again the drawbacks are unknown.
- The Elder Staff is a life creation device, to a God this may simply be able to convert chemicals into something life could substantiate itself on (implied the case of Arma's entry in the Emissary book), to anything below a god, it may possibly be an Energy-Conversion device, which might explain how Zaros' body didn't turn into energy for the world Like Guthix was when Zamorak absorbed his physical power into himself. Context: after Missing Presumed Death, the Book of the Underworld states that a god forfeits their right to an afterlife when they became gods, with the energy returning to the earth Zaros is one of the few gods who was able to eject his own soul from his body without any repercussions.
- The Crown's main power for an Elder God possibly a control device for the them to apply more precise control on their own tools, to anything below this works in reverse, letting anyone with an Artifact to know where it is and for the wearer of the crown, know where the other artifacts are, though it is unknown if Saradomin could detect the Staff of Armadyl due to the cloaking spell applied to it during the Fall of Zaros, or perhaps he knew where the staff was and wanted Zaros' own ranks to crumble in the incoming fight.
A common power with all artifacts is that they can become a god with enough exposure.
If we are assuming that all guardians has God power immunity, it's possible that once Harold became Death, Guthix couldn't command or power anyone away from the afterlife due to being uprooted into a guardian by Guthix himself, even Death's hands are tied with Zaros. It is also said that when a creature dies, they return to their realm they consider their home to be their afterlife, possibly implying that Zaros is a Gielniorian, or possibly he simply considers Gielnior his home.
It may be possible that Guthix simply didn't knew Zaros existed due to coming to the realm whilst he was asleep and dieing long before he woke up, after all, the afterlife is Death's domain and not Guthix', Guthix wanted the realm and possibly all its aspects to be in control of Mortals, for him to change rules in mortal affairs would go against his own ways, so he just erected a god-proof barrier instead.
- Gods as a whole forfeit their right to an afterlife upon ascending, though Death can land the killing blow on Gielinor (deity) in Nomad's Elegy (confirming Death can kill gods if it is indeed their time.) As it stands, the question is academic at this point—Zaros was unable to do much to interact with Gielinor (the world) after Zamorak betrayed him, and has mostly just been surviving off Mah's energies on Freneskae for the past few millenia or so. Guthix could certainly tell Seren (of equal power to Zaros and himself) to leave (or shatter herself into crystal to stay with her elves, for that matter).
"Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown."
However, there was more than just the traditional fire breathing draconic abilities, the Water Lizards described in Kerapac's journal may have been Cave Crawlers which looks like Dagannoth Fledgelings, the difference from a Spawnling and a Fledgling may have been a temporary metamorphosis before it matures into a Dagannoth. The Dagannoth has been a relatively unknown species which appeared at the 3rd age which is similar to the Dragon's creation.
Their adaptive ability is generally only passable through the Matriarchs of the species, indirectly this may have been from the Cave Crawler ancestor which is shown via the King Black Dragon being able to fire poison-breath. the original Dagannoth definitely would have came from Dagannoth Prime (if the name is anything) Prime may have managed to ravage the Bukalla by connecting to the mind of one (like how the original Dagannoth mother communicated with the lighthouse keeper) and using the still lingering memories to fly from the skies (like Therragorn's memory syncing ability when she was connected to Hannibus) and vanish without a trace, which explains its examine.
Later on it spawns Rex, then Supreme. What's left is a sapient amphibious race with extremely-exaggerated adaptive abilities possibly on a species-wide scale. all because V may have forced the Dragonkin to house themselves at Acheron for a while. (which may or may not be feasible. due to the timeline) the connection between Dagannoths and the Wallasalki, perhaps if they elaborate on if the King Black Dragon's egg was actually a Water Lizard's egg like the Queen's or not.
Here is the theory: the multiverse in Runescape is always going through cycles of creation and destruction. At some point, the Elder Gods will die. Gielinor will suffer a Class 6 to Class X Apocalypse. All other worlds will be wiped out. Then, new Elder Gods will be reborn, create worlds, and the process will repeat itself forever. The player, Zaros, and possibly the other gods if they get on board, will all try to stop this from happening. The Dragonkin, because they hate Jas, will try to speed the process up. Sliske will also try to speed up the end, because he is essentially an Expy of The Joker.
In a Q&A at one point, Jagex mentioned that the Elder Gods have a method of destroying all life in an instant called the Great Revision. This might be it.
- Suggested to be the Elder Gods' plan in game with the release of "Heart of Stone". Whether or not this comes to pass has yet to be determined.
One example of this is from the Elder Chronicles, where light is described as "the spark of life". Zaros could not help the Illujanka, but Seren might have been able to, because she possessed the spark of life. Similarly, Seren couldn't cure her elves of the bondage she accidently placed them under, but Zaros, as an intellectual with unrivaled knowledge of magic and science, could have easily done so.
If you're running away from something, you look for a place that you can hide where you have people you can trust. What better place than a rediscovered civilization on a slowly recovering world, lead by an old love interest? Not to mention, "Bandos lingering energy" seems to be keeping Zanik alive anyway, so there's no reason to see why she couldn't hand-wave the being killed thing anyway.
- That might buy time while the Elder Gods suck Gielinor dry. But it wouldn't really solve the problem. The Elder Gods basically wipe the slate clean every time they finish with the current "perfect" world. They basically erase the imperfect worlds by tossing them all into the Abyss. Yu'biusk appears to be a standard plane, so it would be knocked there along with all the others. Also, I believe it has been explicitly confirmed by Word of God that we won't be seeing Zanik again.
Bacon was surprisingly undiscovered until after the start of the Sixth Age by the Player, all existing references to Bacon and Cooked Pigs were retconned from the game and graphics removed, however the HAM cult still has ham sandwiches and (real) Ham pictured on their Family Crest for Player Owned Houses and even the HAM symbols on their chest spells Ham.
How did Bacon remain undiscovered for years? possibly it's just culture changing, Pigs were just more uncommon as farm animals in comparison to Cows. Eli Bacon publicly discovered bacon and named it after himself, however in The Chosen Commander the player themselves could say "I'm making a ham sandwich" which alludes to Pork-based products existing, said HAM members patrolling the Windmill wasn't alarmed at the haphazard excuse which alludes that the consumption of Bacon is commonplace within HAM. before Bringing Home the Bacon was complete, addicts found Eli's stash of bacon and essentially became deadhead bacon addicts. it's possible that HAM knew this; they first kidnapped villagers with the promise of a safe haven from Monsters and purposely inadequately fed them into malnutrition to steadily brainwash them, then they slowly fed them bacon to hook them whilst monotonously chanting phrases, afterwards they give up all their worldly possessions to fund the cult. (check the basement!!) they physically feel sick if they go without their fix whilst the higher Deacons herd them into an Xenophobic agenda.
Which may be worse, how that Ali M supposedly swindled the rights to Bacon by intercepting his copyright/patent proposal to the Cooking Guild, which may actually become some sort of addictive substance. Contemporary; Ali M could be a major enemy to the player in the desert series if we assume that the Desert Pantheon actually resonates with their meaning. Ali M aggressively shoves out other merchants with threats and desecrates ruins for monetary worth, Amascut may see him to be a manipulable ally, the thought of Bacon being used for something so serious would be jarring with the series however.
- It seems less likely that they'd wrap up what has been a serious quest series with such a goofy tie-in, but I can imagine Rabid Jack using the same method to pacify future zombie corpses. Or something. The Pirate quest series tends not to give a fuck.
Zamorak himself mentioned that he didn't actually know how to use the Staff of Armadyl, and Zaros probed his mind to somehow enable him to use it, he pulled him in closer to push the Staff further to transfuse his energy into Zamorak. now at first, maybe this might have been a sign of primal anger of an older Zaros but has mellowed out in recent times. perhaps Palkeera's scribbling of "Za-" is a plothook for both Gods. Zaros may have simply either retreated to Freneskae or the Shadow Realm whilst Zamorak was carried away by his Daemonic followers to Infernus for 20 years after the Ascension.
Perhaps Zamorak discovered something about Seren as he went to spy in the elven lands, they got ambushed by elves and he used the opportunity to poison Char and leave her for dead. in primordial times; Freneskae, in periods where Mah was asleep, Seren was being motherly, pretending to be Mah and teaching the Mahjarrat how to weave more of their own kind in an effort to keep them safe and away from Mah's nightmares. however she eventually left to Tarddiad...note the Mahjarrat themselves was discovered by Seren first because she stuck around to look after Mah, it was only until Zaros saw the Mahjarrat that Icthlarin summoned to Gielinor; due to their familiar biology, indirectly from being creations of Mah. this was what made Zaros either misinterpret (or possibly abstaining) the breeding ritual for a rejuvenation ritual due to his past mistakes with the Nihil.
The War of Uzer itself may have had Thammaron employed by Zamorak as a bodyguard for Palkeera due to possibly being the mother of his child and still seeped in strength due to diverting some of her energy into forming him, as he was around during the exploration of the elven lands. flash forwards and the only remnant we have is that she wrote "Za-" on her deathbed. so the father is both Zaros and Zamorak, Zaros himself lacks any "mortal" morals, let alone a comprehensible biology, whilst Zamorak is a God, so perhaps his heightened powers as a Mahjarrat was what enabled him to breed more without any equivelent exchange which would have normally killed creatures outright. (such as kidnapped Aviantese from Abbinah to create Nihil during Zaros' experiment on restoring fertility to the Dragon Riders/Ilujanka, which eventually diverged into Smoke Nihil by feeding on Muspah and siphoning the energy)
Khazard was left in the care of Hazeel, possibly because he has less power in comparison to other Mahjarrat and possibly because he just wasn't simply of a major target to the Saradominists and to other Mahjarrat alliances. other than Sliske being generally untrustful and Bilrach being too much of a dog. Azzanadra was sealed by both Saradominists and Zamorakians, Akthanakos was imprisoned by Enahkhra, she herself was probably waiting inside the same temple...if Khazard is Zamorak's son, then putting it around such an obscessed woman would've been a bad choice. Lucien/Zemourgal has bad inter-family rivalry, complicated with the former's megalomania. anyone else is either dead, frozen (Jhallan) or amnesic like Kharshai which gave off the signal that they were "dead" to other Mahjarrat.
Now, at the bottom of Daemonheim is a rift where the barrier between worlds is at it's weakest. The supposedly abandoned castle at the top of Daemonheim was built by the Dragonkin. Kerapac the Dragonkin has a base set up within the dungeons of Daemonheim, and is able to manipulate the odd nature of the place to keep anyone from ever finding it unless he wants them to. Notes by Bilrach's mages and Fremmenik raiders mention how the dungeons rearrange themselves, and there have been reports of time itself being warped. Finally, Bilrach was not able to use the Rift to summon Zamorak, despite the whispers telling him more or less that he could.
Now, how does all of this relate to the boss monster from Heart of Stone? Any sort of extraplanar travel involves the Abyss to some extent, which is where the entity came from. The Prehistoric Abyssal is also a known liar. It mislead Xenia about what would happen with her spell, which curiously enough, also created a hole into the Abyss. Finally, the Prehistoric Abyssal is deeply familiar with the creation of dimensional rifts, such as the one in Daemonheim.
In the Underworld, it is a construct of Sapient races where people who die return to the world they consider their home, for the Fremminik they wind up in Valhalla (or an analogue of) rather than Gielinor's Underworld, but since Sapient Races is a mistake to the Elder Gods, perhaps that their very existence is stunting the flow of anima in general which would justify why evil and vengeful souls are destroyed by Amascut (before she became the devourer) and Ithlarin ferrys souls to rest with only a few worthy souls to be reincarnated. Bob the Cat, utilizing the leaking Anima that Xenia flowed into the Abyss, travels back in time to Teragard's Underworld to get reincarnated into Robert, possibly with some of his memories sealed to keep the Time Loop Consistent. here he yearns to explore new worlds where he enters the Schism and winds up in Gielinor where he eventually faced the Dragonkin, eventually Robert comes to Kethsi, possibly with the information you gave him. only thing unexplained is where did Bob's collar come from originally and how did it wind up in the hands of Unferth.
The Balance Elemental is possibly Robert (a timelooped ghost resurrected into the form of an elemental) waiting the long way round to sow the seeds of thought into the player, and to get a bead on the current Stonetoucher's appearance for when that current Timeline's Bob the Cat's collar is collected to get the fairy ring combination.
Somewhere down the line you hand Robert's Necklace to Robert in his Human form, possibly to give him the idea. or to convince him that his gambit worked. However the note says 2139 plus the current time, presumably when Robert wrote the Note to himself. the 4th age lasted 2000 years and the 3rd age lasted around 4000 when Guthix banished the gods and went back to sleep. now if we're assuming the time is striking when the Player would require the information about the White Knights then logically it should at least Year 1 of the Sixth age or even year 2? this places the note at about the middle of the 3rd age however Robert got to Kethsi late to the 3rd/early 4th age. Either that or the Note was from an unaltered timeline or we travel in the future from when Robert wrote the note in the 4th age to year 139 of the 5th age.
Eerily, if it was the year 139 of the 5th Age, suddenly Elvarg destroys Crandor. There's probably some ulterior reasoning here, Crandor is also remotely close to Karamaja. maybe some sort of Dragonkin experiment? or Melzar needed some mind-breaking experience just to get him to allude to the Stone of Jas. Or possibly this is when Robert the Strong is reincarnated into Bob the Cat.
Another theory behind the Balance Elemental was that Ipcress' soul was Reaped by Death in the 2nd age however the timeline between his death and Cres' creation was thousands of years apart to the extent that he saw Juna's egg being hatched. reasonably this should be just after Guthix banished the other gods. the theory is that Robert's soul was in limbo to an extent and now due to the very form of Anima being changed and Guthix channeling its power, he can contain Robert's soul to a spatial point in time until the player kills them which causes Lucien to steal the Stone of Jas. In Cres' lore, it mentioned "Three of them now live" which would mean Cres, Valluta and Fiara, as Juna's egg hasn't yet hatched, this places Cres' birth to just before Guthix went to sleep, then he built the temple around him.
On a technicality; Ocellus was one of Zaros' pet demons thus was plain uprooted, whilst Fiara, Valluta and Cres were either bought to life or uprooted before they're born. Death is technically undead and had his guardian powers bestowed by Guthix, so the logic behind "Three of them now live" makes sense as Juna hasn't hatched. Also the guthixian stone circles has 8 stones representing every guardian of Guthix plus the Player, the 8th may be Bob, he may be the Guardian of Time.
In the thousands of years, the Wushanko Humans salvaged anima-touched animals such as Whales and made use of their bones for minor benefits similar to that of modern day Divination. this diverged from the Altered Anima that emerged from the earth in the west, thanks to Humans weaning themselves up with Runes which were said to be derived from Anima and the Stone of Jas. maybe Energy mixed with divine power (that was still active) from the shattered Eddicts barrier shards enable more fantastical effects ranging from banking items to bringing you back to in combat life.
It's likely Guthix had to cope with the Pests that were now invading the realm and stationed the Valluta to protect the thinning line between dimensions, whilst Guthix was unaware that the Gash could have caused Anima to flow out on the opposite side of the planet. this "Exit Wound" would be The Hole in The World in the Pincers region, the Shambling Lair may be composed of Underworld constructs giving physical form in the living world as Oxhead and Horseface. (Oxheads and Horsefaces?) the Anima is more spread out so they have to dispose of the dead but are seen as monsters. Anima is essentially the experience of sapient beings, destroyed souls, ect, analogous to Muspah/Mahjarrat being sapient memories.
Jagex will presumably let the player use this as a way of transforming Bob the Cat's memory into Robert the Strong, justifying how he can be physically there to fulfill his message to the player that he left on Kethsi thousands of years ago. Bob the Cat however will be separated, this would be the portion that's attracted to Neite, just to dissociate the idea that a former human is in love with a cat but to also leave Bob (As Bob the Cat) as a kind of Legacy Character. Also to align with this, one of Sliske's books inside his lair explains that Mahjarrat are not born with souls, and that Souls are partially manifested by the experiences of their owners, explaining why he wanted to steal part of the player's, he continued this research by enforcing the appearance of Souls within gods during Sliske's Endgame where among other things, Icthlarin started to revert into a Jackal (due to being uprooted by Tumeken) and Seren, due to always being an Anima-derived Goddess, merely reshaped her memories. depending on what components you added to her during The Light Within would have caused her to mention that her being can't reassemble a previous state due to the missing parts.
- WenKra's most obvious trait is its damage, but this obviously has no bearing on the personality of Wen. Less obvious traits become apparent once the conversation ensues, however - it believes the player is a TokHaar, becomes enraged at their use of magic, and considers other lifeforms "living imperfection[s]". This suggests Wen is something of a conservative, one who believes everything has its place and resents challenges to their worldview. Convincing Wen to spare life will likely involve either convincing them to open their mind and broaden their view, or that a better order can be created with the help of sapients.
- BikKra is blatantly arrogant, and even (falsely?) names Bik the "Greatest and most important of all the elder gods". Appealing to Bik will likely involve massaging their ego and possibly even convincing them that sapients can be sycophants or servants, or even promising support in their truly becoming the leader of the Elder Gods.
- FulKra immediately attacks the player with minions, believing them to be Xenia, and judging by what can be assumed of its dialogue with Kipple, most of its speech to Kipple before it consents to converse with you seems to consist of either assertions or interruptions demanding more information on a specific topic. It also seems to have a focus on action as a value of worth, as it considers itself diminished when "slowed in thought and deed", and mocks the TzHaar both based on their lack of action and with (or rather, by threatening) forced actions ("making them dance"). FulKra's criticism of its creator also suggests regret of, self-hatred directed at, and some degree of self-awareness of their own flaws. All this put together suggests that Ful will likely act against the player, likely by sending servants - possibly even the TzHaar or TokHaar - to assassinate the "mistake" and end Jas' "foolishness", but their respect will likely be won if the player can survive this onslaught, and their regret will then lead them to take the player's side.
- JasKra seemingly jumps to conclusions, but unlike FulKra, does not immediately act on them, despite verbally holding to them and demanding the player to proactively provide proof, aloofly refusing to converse and preferring to observe the player's actions. It is also eventually convinced once proof beyond reasonable doubt is shown to it. This seems to strongly mirror Jas' own actions at the end of Sliske's Endgame - saying very little concrete beyond their own statements of "facts" and beliefs and judgements, and making their demands - and yet,not taking action unless the player displays explicit hostility, opposition and refusal to cooperate. (And while Gameplay and Story Segregation may be in play here, if the player's death at the hands of Jas' assault is as canon as the rest of their deaths, this suggests that even then she did not immediately act to destroy the world or rouse the other Elder Gods.) Convincing Jas to spare life will likely require action on the player's behalf which proves beyond reasonable doubt that life is on the side of the Elder Gods, or at least willing to assist them. What such an action might be, however, leads into...
- The Golden Ending/Unity Ending: The Elder Gods, Gods, and mortal races (led primarily by, or at least influenced significantly by, the player and/or their actions) successfully collaborate to first protect, and then ultimately restore the Anima Mundi, allowing the Elder Gods to successfully feed on it. However, out of newfound respect for the mortal races, and possibly a newly gained understanding and realization of a Third Option - allowing Gielinor to survive indefinitely (and possibly eventually leaving it gently if necessary, or possibly staying on it indefinitely) rather than consuming it entirely and needing to create another new world - the Elder Gods moderate their consumption of the Anima Mundi, allowing Gielinor and the mortal races to survive their predations in something resembling their current state, while also preventing the Elder Gods' destructive awakening, or allowing it to be more gradual and hence less destructive. In this state, the Elder Gods may also be able to offer the mortals various boons in return for their cooperation.
(This ending bears significant similarity to the ideals of Armadyl, who may feature prominently in it, and/or be overwhelmed and amazed at seeing his ideals come to fruition in a way even he had not dreamed of. It may or may not also be what Jas is ultimately hoping for, as if she did not want anything from the player or have no hope for or interest in them, she would not have teleported them away to speak to her.)
- The Rulership Ending: Believing that mortals are too chaotic and require guidance and control, Gods such as Zaros and/or Saradomin (with the player's assistance) seize or gradually establish a hierarchical rulership over the mortal races. The other Gods are slain, or forced to accept another's rulership. The Elder Gods may at least temporarily accept this as a functional solution, although it will remain to be seen whether they will eventually harvest Gielinor under this solution. Alternatively, it is possible the newly minted ruler would find some leverage to use against even them, such as possibly threatening them with the Anima Mundi (or lack thereof), if said ruler were eventually able to gain control over most of it.
(Obviously, this ending would be most in accordance with the ideals of Saradomin, although other gods could end up going this way too if they make a successful play for power.)
- The Mortals' Denial/Godless Ending: Realizing/believing the Elder Gods have little to offer them beyond danger and an existential threat, the mortal races (and the player) successfully deny the Anima Mundi to the Elder Gods, condemning them. What form this denial takes and deeds are necessary to bring it about would determine the specifics of this ending - it's probable that the mortal races would be required to sacrifice, destroy or channel away the Anima Mundi, which would also mean they would lose access to magic (and Gielinor would lose some of its biodiversity, and some of its "spark" of life). The Gods would also likely be slain (or stripped of their powers by other means) in this path, as killing or draining them would be an extension of a similar concept - to not allow godlike entities to threaten or control humanity or other mortal races. The remaining Elder Artefacts would also have to be destroyed, contained, (reasonably) responsibly used, drained of power, or otherwise denied/sealed/sent away, since otherwise their claimants would have nigh-unassailable power. Life would become harsher and less cheerful/special/magical, but the mortal races will survive.
(This is similar to the ideals and goals of the Godless, who already probably do not believe in or see the "spark of life" that would be lost. Seren would also probably support this ending, as she regrets the negative consequences of her interactions with mortals and the world too much, and would want to see a world without gods or divine power, not seeing the good things that would also be lost, or the good her own interventions have wrought in the past.)
- The Chaos Ending: Rather than restore and share the Anima Mundi for the benefit of all, the mortal races and their Gods end up falling back on the rule of strength and fighting to claim as great portions of the Anima Mundi as each can (as well as the remaining Elder Artefacts). This would possibly be catalysed by player actions (such as, perhaps, claiming the power of the Anima Mundi and/or an Elder Artefact for themselves, and/or declaring rulership by power, or declaring a specific god should be ruler). The Anima Mundi's own remaining guardians will also likely join the scrum, understandably retaliating with hostility to the rampant abuse and theft of Anima Mundi, while the Elder Gods, deprived of Anima Mundi by the increasing damage to and draining of it, would also likely add their own assaults and creations to the growing upheaval - possibly in semi-lucid states at first, but later on in deprived and starved states growing increasingly similar to Mah's. Only the luckiest and fittest participants would survive on this new, incredibly hostile and competitive Gielinor, and the more idealistic would be killed off or forced to "harden up", including the gods.
(This is likely the ending Zamorak and the deceased Bandos would champion, although their survival and success too would not be guaranteed. Saradomin, while not deliberately championing this ending, may also inadvertently work towards it by attempting to claim power for himself, unless the player talks some sense into him in one of the other endings.)
- The Great Revision/Destruction/Annihilation Ending: The "Godless Ending" above is attempted (or the mortal races displease the Elder Gods in another way), but (realizing what the mortal races seek to do, in the former case) the Elder Gods destroy them. What happens from here depends on the state the Anima Mundi is left in - if there is too little left of it, or it is too damaged, the Elder Gods will also likely perish. If it can recover (or be restored) in time, the Elder Gods will also recover and restore themselves with time, and may resume creating worlds and continue their cycle.
(This is the endgame the Elder Gods' original aims and ideals were aimed towards, and may still be possible for them depending on how badly they are affected by the current state of the Anima Mundi, and how reliant they currently are on it.)
- The Abyss Ending (likely prevented by the prevention of Xenia's plot, so not likely to happen): Channelling the Anima Mundi away into the Abyss (as Xenia intended to) leads to something else claiming its power, something which is not an Elder God, but possibly even worse (Hostilius, perhaps?). This entity consumes, destroys, or corrupts Gielinor beyond recognition.
(This is possibly what whichever entity - again, possibly Hostilius - was manipulating Xenia was aiming for.)
(Zaros would likely at first be too preoccupied with attaining his own Elder Godhood to see any of these endings coming, but once he is snapped out of it and realizes what is going on, he will likely attempt to work behind the scenes to support or minimize the damage of whichever ending is occurring. In the Golden/Unity ending, he would hopefully help to stabilize the Anima Mundi, and/or work on his own projects - possibly also to that end - while also possibly still attempting to achieve Elder Godhood. In the Godless Ending, he would likely attempt to make himself scarce, and possibly resume his work on another world, while in the Chaos Ending he would likely seek self-preservation and possibly attempt to "lead" a faction from the shadows, taking greater care to not be directly assailed this time. In the Revision/Annihilation ending he would again seek self-preservation and survival, but in this with the aim of surviving the Elder Gods' Revision, possibly by hiding in the Abyss or again attempting to join them, or even attempting to make himself useful to them - although this seems both the least likely to succeed and the least likely to be attempted. In the Rulership ending, if he was not ruler himself he would likely attempt to play a behind the scenes power, possibly even by becoming the ruler's "advisor", and probably attempt to seize power himself eventually.)
It is also possible that part of the "choosing" of the ending would be done unknowingly via world events and thus, the playerbase, by choosing which god(s) to side with and which will be slain - as each ending seems specifically aligned with a god, slaying their opponents would make it likelier, while slaying any given god would likely prevent their ending from occurring. This also adds significance to Guthix's death happening first - his "ending"/maintained equilibrium (the Gods remaining inactive and ideally, slowly being forgotten, while the land remains in balance) was already happening thanks to his Edicts, until he was slain, preventing it from continuing.
The Mwanu creation account detailed in the Decaying Journal hints that their god Tezcasathla (Xau-Tak?) created the apes and monkeys after he created them and the mwanu dominated them and used them for sacrifices. Since apes and monkeys are related to humans in the Runescape universe (as hinted by the examine text of monkey NPC), it only stands to reason that humans have a common origin with them. After Xau-Tak preserved the mwanu from an invading god of tusk and fury (Tuska?) as detailed in the Rotten Journal, and transported them to a "new home," perhaps a large amount of them ended up on Teragard by some unknown means and evolved into humans, whereas smaller branch was taken to what is now the Cursed Isles in Gielinor and created the advanced civilization detailed in the Pestilent journal, only to revert back madness and become the Horrors we know of today. As for the branch on Teragard, as their language evolved, the term for their race "mwanu" became corrupted into "wuman" which later became "human." This would also explain the xenophobic tendencies of the intelligent monkeys of Ape Atoll towards the humans. It is not a cultural thing, as their goddess Marimbo is pretty chill and laid back; it is a primal instinctual fear dating back to when the ancestors of humans (mwanu) used to use them as sacrifices back on Jermyn . This also ties back into the "Cthulhu Mythos" vibe that last quest of the pirate series seems to be emulating. Mankind is primal and feral and said ferocity can be brought out of us by Elderich forces, whether Cthulhu or Xau-Tak.
- The Template: The Monolith used in the Archaeology skill. It works by absorbing powerful magical items and replicating their powers to its users, using the consumed item as a "template" for the powers it grants. The Mysterious Monolith's statue as an Elder Artefact is almost confirmed by this piece of official concept art◊, which shows it to have a heavy connection to Wen, one of the Elder Gods.
- The Hammer: The Shield of Arrav. The Legend of Arrav describes it of being "not of this world"; the writers have implied during lore livestreams that some of the other artefacts were left on other worlds. Its sheer power (allegedly being invincible against any attack, absorbing magic, and unleashing it back) is enough to qualify it. The only question is what it was intended for, since the immortal Elder Gods probably wouldn't need it as a weapon. Given the name, it could've been intended to absorb the Anima Mundi and unleash it into a huge burst, possibly used to help shape planets before the Elder Kiln and the Tokhaar were designed to do that job instead.
- The Codex: Unknown. Likely the unknown artefact that lead to Armadyl ascending to godhood (since it was confirmed that it wasn't the Staff of Armadyl). Likely still on the Avansie homeworld of Abninah.
During Fate of the Gods, Zaros mentions there are six Elder Gods: Five of form, and one of "something else". There are no two-sided polygons, so associating this god with the number 2 would fit its status as the only immaterial god.
- "Sensing the impending birth of their young, the adults pressed in close. With a touch they imparted their identities and their memories."
But nothing is ever stated about what would happen if the Elder Gods were born without touching the eggs.
What if allowing the eggs to hatch without the current generation of Elders touching it would cause them to be born with new identities? My theory is that in the distant past, the whole point of the Great Revision was to allow the Elder Gods to create more eggs - not to be reborn themselves, but to create new members of their kind.
The only question then, is why are the Elder Gods now obsessed with being reborn? It defintely seems like some entity (Xau-Tak, or a Greater-Scope Villain) wants the Elder Gods dead. It's possible that this entity tricked the Elder Gods that currently exist, when they were young, that they needed to implant their souls into their infants to be reborn for some reason.
From what we've been told, it seems like the new Elder Gods are Born As Adults, and must consume the anima of their homeworld to nourish their massive adult bodies. It's possible that allowing an Elder God to be born naturally would be less devastating to the home planet, since they would drain the animasphere slowly as they grow instead of all at once.
With the Elder God Wars Dungeon revolving around the united forces stopping the Elder Gods from touching their eggs, this is a logical endpoint - they fail to stop them from hatching, but succeed in stopping the current Elder Gods from passing onto their souls, allowing three new Elder Gods to be born and making the problem a whole lot worse.
TL;DR: The world will be reverted to similar to how it was at the very beginning (OOC), via Hijacking Cthulhu. Saradomin, Armadyl, and Zamorak will become the new True Gods of Gielinor, with Zaros as once again an Outside-Context Problem, and Seren resuming her role as the peaceful but isolationist goddess of the Elves.
- So, there's three remaining Elder God eggs, and four remaining Elder Gods - Mah is dead.
- The sixth Elder is probably Vos, Elder God of the Shadow Realm, but that's uncertain - the strongest reasoning behind that guess is merely naming convention. In any case, the Sixth Elder is not really relevant here.
- There are also three Younger Gods currently siphoning anima - the world's life energy - from the eggs to prevent their hatching, and also gradually empowering themselves.
- If the Elder God eggs hatch from the failure or cessation of the draining process, they'll either hatch as/reincarnate their creators - Wen, Bik, and Ful - or as all new, mindless, childlike Elder Gods. (That hasn't been made clear.)
- If the Elder Gods' forces get the eggs back, the Elder Gods will touch the eggs to hatch them, guaranteeing their rebirth.
- Either way, the newborn Elder Gods will destroy Gielinor.
- So both constitute loss conditions - but both also violate the Anthropic Principle, as Gielinor would be destroyed, so we can be fairly certain neither will happen, no matter what.
- However, long before any of this, at the very beginning of the game's OOC history, there were merely three (relevant/active) gods: Saradomin, God of Order and Wisdom, Guthix, God of Balance, and Zamorak, God of Chaos and Destruction. Back then they were said to be the world's creators, with no forces above them, and to be in stalemate and bound by agreement.
- This interpretation evolved over time, and others came onto the scene.
- At the time, Zaros was also a big mystery portrayed as fearful and threatening to all three. He had a role as an Eldritch Abomination(?)/Outside-Context Problem for and possibly beyond all three.
- Now, Guthix is dead. Saradomin and Zamorak, as I've mentioned above, are physically present at this time - along with Armadyl - and in current lore never were as powerful as they were once implied to be. They're each a Person of Mass Destruction, but not world-shapers. Zaros has been revealed, the reasons for his absence explained.
- So what I'm thinking is: Who says an Elder God egg can only be touched by an Elder God?
- Mortals can ascend to Younger Godhood through the use of Elder God tools, that is confirmed canon.
- So what if a sufficiently prepared mortal - like a Younger God - touches an Elder God egg?
- Would they be able to be reborn as one? Would that newborn Elder God then still go on a rampage? Or would it retain its mortal sensibilities?
- So that's what I'm thinking. Saradomin, Armadyl, and Zamorak will touch the Elder God eggs, and become reborn as "Elder" Gods themselves rather than the current assholes, becoming the New True Gods.
- Leaving the old Elder Gods to... who knows, go fuck themselves? Start looking for revenge? Be overwritten/lose their sapience?
- Saradomin will become the God of Order and Law once again. Zamorak will truly (re)gain his throne as the God of Chaos and Destruction. And Armadyl, rather than Guthix, will serve as the balance between them, the God of Justice and Neutral Good. With Zaros again an Outside-Context Problem and Seren still the isolationist Goddess of the Elves.
- This will nicely clean up and re-simplify all this lore, back to how it used to be, since Zaros has fucked off to the Shadow Realm and Seren doesn't care about power anyway, and wants to withdraw from mortals and be forgotten.
- This also explains the World Events - and why this hasn't been treated the same way.
- They were massive scale polls.
- The first World Event was to find out if the players would rather have God of (Enforced Peace by) Order Saradomin or God of Chaos and Destruction (and Individualism) Zamorak dominant, out of the two. Saradomin won, but narrowly.
- The second was to find out if the players would rather have a world shaped by the brutal, warmongering, war-encouraging God of War Bandos, or the kind, peace-and-connection-building God of Justice Armadyl. Armadyl won by a landslide.
- The third world event is less obviously clear in purpose, but the contest is between the three survivors, plus the Godless, to once again see which of the set the players prefer/would rather have more influence over the world. Tuska, as the common enemy, also served to represent and quantify the playerbase's apathy if it won - if the players weren't interested enough to participate despite the supposed stakes, this would also be relevant and of note. Victories were split between Tuska and unambiguous dominance by the Godless.
- Additionally, from the OOC perspective, this resolution will require a minimal of world revision and alteration - the religions (and physical temples, and NPCs) devoted to Saradomin, Zamorak, Guthix, Armadyl, Seren, and Zaros can remain largely unchanged, with mere dialogue changes and little need for (programming and art-intensive) changes to the World of Gielinor.
- So yeah. That's how I think this will play out, for both in and out of character reasons. Thoughts?