Regicide
Entry posted by Merch Gwyar
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I was in a quest mood, but the impetus for doing 'Regicide' really came the day before. Every builder's wish is to have a room completed to the highest level it can be. I found myself in the position where a quest hall (I have two) could be so, it only needed the addition of a rug (for which I had the materials) and a picture of Isafdor. I duly went to see the herald with some money and was thwarted. You have to do 'Roving Elves' to get that picture. I had to do 'Regicide' before I could even get to 'Roving Elves'.
'Regicide' seemed to me to belong to a slightly-lesser-than-the-Russell-Group-of-horrible-quests, insofar as people appeared to pause before doing it, but they didn't appeared scarred for life, as they did with quests like 'Desert Treasure'. It seemed a quest to be proud of completing. I read through the guide and two things stood out for me, a) oh no, I'm going to be stood at that blasted Iban Temple again with 2hp, no food, all my armour and the promise of a fight with a level 110 guard; and b) oh no, the underground pass... which is really a) slightly removed, but deserves the repetition. Therefore my confidence received a huge boost when I mentioned in chat that I was about to embark on this quest and Whiskas88 commented that he was in Isafdor at that very moment in time! Really? Is there a bank over there? Yes. Are you going to be around for a while? Yes. How easy is it for folk with quest capes to enter and leave Isafdor? Very easy. Whiskas88 :D He came to Ardoughe and took all my armour, stashed it in his bank and let me get on with traversing the underground pass without worrying about losing all my worldy possessions.
As it was, I didn't sustain anywhere near as much damage as I had when I was there the last time. I was down to 33hp at one point, but with plenty of food on me. Despite the fact that I messed up the grid twice, fell off a ledge twice and fell from the temple labyrinth three or four times, the pass seemed easier both times I had to cross it. The latter part of the first time was frustrating enough to make me want to have a break, but that was mainly because Whiskas had extracted my stuff and was waiting just around the corner in anticipation of my arrival and I couldn't get to him. I was having situations where I had just fallen, with 19 points damage and the promise of a long walk ahead, and Whiskas response was, 'Merch, please hurry up.' I also had had a guide leading me through the labyrinth, who hadn't fallen once and was now merrily chatting with Whiskas waiting for me (I didn't have a clue which roads to take hereon) and also, in real life, I had people hovering after using the computer. In short, it wasn't an enjoyable quest at that point, it was like pulling teeth.
Finally though, the other adult in my house had finished her rant centring around 'well, if you think that playing your children's game is more important than me paying this bill...' (just five minutes to get my armour, so this lad can get on with doing what he was doing, then you can have it for as long as you want) and Whiskas had come to meet me from the other side, thus giving me a point of reference to head for. I was through! Yay! I even had more time here, as the person ranting had gone to the shop. Whiskas offered to take me to Lord Iowerth's camp. Whiskas :D But we got to the track just to the east of it when the front door opened and I really had no excuse not to give up the computer then.
I returned over an hour later to find myself in unchartered territory. The guide and, worse, the map made me lag terribly, but it was still quite exciting to be able to explore somewhere new in Runescape. I followed the wall, but was stopped by some trees (why hadn't I brought an axe?), then I poked the dense forest, but it refused to give way. I was thus employed in trying the entire forest edge for access when a voice beside me said, 'follow me?' Whiskas had come back! Woot! He was able to lead me through the forestscape and traps past the point of the fight and nearly to the first sighting of the camp, then he had to go for his lunch.
I really enjoyed pottering around finishing that part of the quest. Particularly, I liked the general exploration in an area which has long seemed, from afar, Gielinor's answer to Wales. Let me qualify this. Firstly you have the letters. This area has places called Lleyta and Prifddinas, which have letters which don't work in English, namely 'll' and 'dd'. But they are both Welsh letters, distinct from 'l' and 'd'. You pronounce 'dd' as 'th' in English, while 'll' is slightly more complicated. If you stick the tip of your tongue against the back of your top front teeth, then breathe without forcing a sound, that is 'll'. Just breathe and, in the same breathy movement, bring your tongue down into the 'ey' sound, completing 'ta' as a short, hard sound rather than 'tar'. That is how Lleyta would sound in Welsh. It wouldn't sound like anything in English, as the individual letter starting it doesn't exist, though I'm guessing that generations of non-Welsh speaking players have been calling it 'later'. Prifddinas is actually a Welsh word, 'prif' (pronounced 'preev') meaning chief or principal and 'ddinas' (pronounced 'thin-cabbage'), which has mutated from the 'dinas' (din-cabbage) because of the 'prif' in front of it. Dinas means fort. So put together, it's the chief fort. Lleyta doesn't translate as precisely, but lletya is 'lodge'. (NB I've just read another guide which calls this area 'Lletya' not 'Lleyta', in which case my pronunciation guide is out, but it is definitely the Welsh for 'lodge'.)
Then you have other words, Tirannwn isn't a precise Welsh word, it's a composite of an Irish Gaelic word and a Welsh one, both referring to the same thing: Tir (Irish, pron 'tear') and Annwn (Welsh, pron 'an-oon') - they are the otherworlds. To put it another way, when I die, as a Welsh Pagan, I'm going to Annwn.
Moreover, a stunning beautiful landscape primed with traps for the unwary traveller? Yes, that sounds like my beloved Wales after 8 and a half centuries of English imperialism, use by the military as a training ground and strip mining. :P
Back to the plot, I arrived back in Draynor as a happier bunny than the raw one in my bag and set about collecting the limestone to add to my bomb. I then tried to make the bomb. 40 minutes and 60-80 wasted coal later, I was losing the will to live. My computer lags way too much for Rimmington distillers. Though Pen Knee offered to come and hold coal, I was so despondant (and running out of time) that I thanked her but logged off to have a bath. Later, I returned much cleaner and smelling beautifully, to find Josh in the bank. It was a random meeting, but he followed me back to the distiller. With a break and enough experience to anticipate the dials and time-lapse of the lag, I was able to make the moves in enough time that they actually did move when they needed to. First time out, I got the coal distilled and the naphta in my bag. Yay!
There was then a significant pause while I logged off, donned a feather boa and plastic tiara, picked up friends, travelled to the Birmingham NIA, screamed along to Manic Street Preachers's song until I was hoarse, and had a thoroughly great time. Once home, I logged on and the rest of the quest passed without incident. I even walked through the pass for the final time without once falling from the labyrinth nor taking too much damage elsewhere.
As for the conclusion... what a cliffhanger!
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