Summer's End

By the very fact that I'm wearing a questcape, anyone reading this blog must know that there are several quests that I've completed and not recorded here. The quests were, in fact, the first things that I did upon returning to Runescape. I did them gradually. A quest a week, then every other day, in a way that broke up the tedium of job-hunting in a world without jobs and also eased me back into the game. I passed through eleven quests like this, which were the sum of the releases while I'd been away. One of those was Summer's End.

I was astounded and not a little outraged after that quest to see how it's not even ranked as 'hard' in many forums, including the official one. I experienced it as in the same category as 'Mourning's End Pt II' or 'Desert Treasure'. It wasn't particularly long, but it was ferocious. I would say that I've never died so often, but that would be to ignore the vengence Merch bomb of Soul Wars. I had started Summer's End well enough. The beast only ate one albino rat familiar, before its twin lured it into the cave. Then I started on the first cave room.

I lost my entire stock of tuna and sweetcorn potatoes in there, after repeated deaths. In retrospect, I shouldn't have taken food at all. I had to pause once to trudge out to Lumbridge Swamp and drop ghostspeak amulets onto the floor, until I had about 16 of them. I fully expected to have to come back and replace them again, but fortunately read the part that said I didn't actually need it until it was time to go into the next room. I became very, very adept at collecting the logs, but also expert at dying whilst trying to place them into the firepits. I took to watching umpteen YouTube videos of other people doing it and reading every guide on the internet, just for tips on how to survive that room. Luckily for me, I read something that isn't mentioned in Sal's guide - do not light any firepit until you have filled all three and can do them all together. I did eventually succeed and completed rooms two and three at the first attempt. I was very proud of completing it.

Yesterday, I got the opportunity to relive the quest by proxy. My nephew, 02Daz16, arrived at my house with some distressing news. Not only was his computer playing up, but he hadn't known not to light any firepits. He had lit two of them, but died before lighting the third. Now the beast was shooting hard and fast, every five seconds releasing a range attack which could one-hit kill my nephew. He wasn't even properly getting to the logs before dying. That was the fate that awaited him on the off-chance that his computer even let him have a go.

So he was at my house, on my fast computer. I stood behind his chair and watched two attempts. The beast was three times as scary as when I'd died so often before him. I stared with my jaw dropped wondering how on earth Daz could get past this part of the quest, both of us vowing to get that important tip added to the quest guide as soon as possible. Do not light the firepits until all logs are in place. Each lit pit makes the beast angrier, faster and with a wider ranging splash of death!

We talked strategy and then, with me watching with bated breath and him nervously clicking the mouse, it was put into action. First it was the first of many trips to Ooglog to get infinite run energy and extra hitpoints. He returned with no food on him at all, because it's all too fast to eat. He only needed five cursed logs, but had, perhaps, a nail-biting second at each root to get one, before the beast was unleashing its full fury onto him. Daz manoeuvred his character to run straight at the beast. A constant back and forth across the vast cavern, between the legs of the beast, so that it lumbered in turning and gave him a second more to hit the root. Twice more, Daz died with only one or two logs secured. He had the idea of trying to cast snare onto it. The first time, he was killed before he could even see the beast. The second time, he cast it, but the beast was invincible. It cannot be attacked in spirit form!

So we, well he with me cheerleading beside him, returned to the original strategy. It was long winded, but working! He concentrated on running and clicking the root. I concentrated on the beast, screaming at him to run when it released its range. Heartstopping minutes drew out and passed, but only three logs were in his bag. I yelled at him to leave the cave and he did, looking at me IRL puzzled. It had occurred to me that if he banked his runes, then he could die with impunity. He would keep those three cursed logs and so would only ever have to get two more.

We paused for tea.

Upon our return, there was Jdeh too, on the other side of Daz's chair, both of us yelling in his ears. Yet this time it happened quickly! Two more logs were secured and Daz dashed out of the cave for us to have another strategy meeting. Ooglog's spa pools gave him his boosts again, then he was back in. He used the firepit nearest to the door, dropping a log, then racing underneath the beast to the far side, touching the wall and back again to drop another log. After three logs, he got hit, so I shrieked at him to leave the cave. For some reason, I believed that, as long as you don't die, your logs will remain in the firepit. He ate and re-entered. The logs were gone! I could have cried for him. I felt so guilty. But he grit his teeth and we were back to strategy one. With remarkable speed he replaced his lost logs and ran for the exit.

Once more to Ooglog and then back into that killing cavern for what seemed like the billionth time. Back and forth, he ran, under the beast, to the wall, to the firepit, under the beast and to the wall. He had four in there and was placing the fifth when he was hit. I yelled for him to leave, thinking that he'd at least save one log, but I'm stupid and it hadn't occurred to me that he'd save it anyway. Fortunately, in the way of teenagers everywhere, Daz wasn't taking a blind bit of notice of his exciteable auntie. He must have touched the tinderbox to the firepit with only a handful of hitpoints left, but it was enough! It was lit! I released a roaring woot that must have been heard several streets away and bounced upon and down on the carpet. Daz simply rediscovered the art of breathing.

As with myself, Daz didn't struggle half so much with the second room. He concentrated on running, I stood behind him watching the message box for the dark core emerging and Jdeh stood to the other side watching the minimap. When it came out, I shrieked, Jdeh yelled 'backwards' or 'forwards' (depending on its location) and Daz reacted for fear of going deaf. He got two in before his infinite run ran out... <.< One quick trip to Ooglog later and the third was captured very easily.

The third room was one which I had found very easy. Despite, or maybe because of, two people 'helping' him memorise the graves, Daz died twice before succeeding in channelling each backlash correctly. Then it was all over. Jdeh got to have a turn on the computer, while Daz and I settled on the settee with well deserved cups of tea and crowed our victories.

'Medium' level task, my backside! It's HARD!