Ashdale

Ashdale is a peaceful cliff-top island village found south of the Feldip Hills and west of Ape Atoll. The village was founded over 400 years ago, and is where people from all across Gielinor go to have a more peaceful life, as nothing very interesting happened there until very recently.

Gudrik the dwarf, found in the south-west of Taverley, may take people there and teach them the basics of RuneScape and they fight off an attack by Morwenna the Cruel. It is also where new players start the game, and the setting of the A Shadow over Ashdale quest.

Description and features
Ashdale is accessed from a dock found to the south of the island, which, unlike the rest of the island, is at sea level. The dock is home to many boats, most of which are relatively small, and a beacon to guide them past the outlying rocks to the island.

The rest of the island can be accessed by climbing stairs from the dock onto the cliffs that the village farms and more are situated on. Just at the top of the steps, a bridge can be found to the east, supported by two giant statues. The bridge leads to a small floating island, upon which the village's church to Saradomin can be found. Although it is a church, no altar to restore Prayer points can be found inside.

North of the steps, the village proper can be found. The east side of the village is home to many features, including a quarry home to copper and tin rocks, and a furnace with two anvils to smith on. Another dock and boat can also be found next to the mine, which is overseen by the quarry overseer. The east is also home to what appears to be a statue of Saint Elspeth and a small market. An entrance to the sewers can be found to the south-west behind one of the houses, although they can only be accessed during the A Shadow over Ashdale quest.

Further west is home to the farm, with Magda the seer's tower found on the path there. The farm is home to numerous cows and a cow-powered windmill, much like the one in the fairy kingdom of Zanaris. A storm drain south of the farm provides another entrance to the sewers, although like the other entrance, it can only be accessed during A Shadow over Ashdale. A small campfire can be found to the north of the farm, at which Digory Popplewell and Ned Swarbrick can be found. The fire, much like others in Gielinor, can be used to cook fish and other raw food.

A minnow pond can be found just south of the farm, where raw minnows can be fished using an ordinary fishing rod and some fishing bait. Another market can be found south of the pond, which has a statue of a sailor nearby, which a seagull occasionally perches atop. Further south, is a house which has a telescope looking out through the roof, and supported by cliffs which have some interesting drawings on them. This house was built by the Fourth Age architect Ogden Plainview, and can only be accessed during the A Shadow over Ashdale quest. During the quest, a staircase is discovered inside, which leads to the enormous Ashdale Caves.

Tutorial
Ashdale is the location of the current tutorial. New players will find themselves here automatically after they create their account, whilst more experienced players can access it by speaking to Gudrik in Taverley, just south-west of the bank.

Note: If you are not a new player, but want to try out the new tutorial, you must bank all of your items beforehand. You are not allowed to bring any items to Ashdale during the tutorial.

Birth of a hero
After a short introductory cutscene, narrated by Gudrik, you will arrive on the north-western side of the island, and Gudrik will greet you. He tells you of a dream he had, depicting a prophecy that depicted the world going down in flames, and that only you can stop it. He tells you that you will need to go to the mainland to do so, as you're special, and plans to prepare you for this by helping you collect food and create a new weapon, as your current sword is rusted and brittle.

Attack of the zombies
Follow Gudrik down into the marketplace, past the newly opened gate. You will hear a sound and halt, and a zombie will burst from the paving stones. It is very easy to defeat, and does not have any special abilities, and it is impossible for you to die. After you defeat it, you will gain the Slice ability in the first slot of your action bar, and another zombie will appear. Use this ability to defeat the second zombie, who like the first, is extremely weak.

Surprised by the zombies, Gudrik will lead you to a fishing area to the north, and gives you some bait to use. Catch three raw minnows at the indicated fishing spot, and Gudrik will congratulate you. You may talk to Hendrik the fisherman nearby when you're done to tell him about the zombie attack, although he will disbelieve you.

Gudrik will then lead you to a fire, where Ned Swarbrick and Digory can be found, you may chat to them if you wish, although it is not required. You must now cook the raw minnows to in order to make cooked minnows.

Undead bovine attack
Follow Gudrik again, and you will come across a dead cow, situated next to an overturned market stall. Approach it, and it will rise to life, becoming a Zombie cow. Like the zombies beforehand, it is very easy, and you are still immune to death, so you will have no trouble defeating it. After you have defeated it, your rusty bronze sword will shatter, and you may proceed to the quarry by the shore to the east to forge a new weapon. You may also head south of where you fought the cow to speak to Magda and learn more about the history of Gielinor and Ashdale.

When you reach the quarry, Gudrik will order you to mine one copper ore and one tin ore from the nearby rocks. He will then lead you up to a furnace to the south, where you must make a bronze bar, before proceeding to use the nearby anvil to turn the bar into a bronze sword, replacing the one which was broken during your fight against the zombie cow earlier.

Morwenna the Necromancer
After you make the sword, you'll hear a screaming noise. Gudrik will identify it as coming from the church to the east, and lead you there. If you stop to chat to Sarah along the way, she will explain that she heard what sounded like a thunderclap in the church, and begs you to investigate.

Inside you will find a zombie necromancer called Morwenna the Cruel, the one responsible for the previous zombie attacks, who then proceeds to envelop the church in fog and raise two zombies from some nearby coffins, which attack you and Gudrik. Gudrik will kill one of the attacking zombies, but you will have to defeat the other yourself. Like the early zombies, it is easy to defeat, and once killed, you will be given the Kick ability, and Morwenna will summon another pair of Zombies. Like the first pair, Gudrik will kill one, and you must kill the other.

Once the second set of zombies are defeated, Morwenna will teleport down to fight you herself. She is significantly tougher than the zombies you defeated beforehand, although you are still incapable of dying. She is capable of stunning you, and will periodically teleport around the church, meaning you will have to follow her around. She will also occasionally summon a magic shield around her, which you can disable by using the Kick ability.

Leaving the island
Once Morwenna is defeated, she will explode, causing the fog around the church to disperse, and dropping her headdress for you to collect and wear if you so choose. You can then follow Gudrik out of the church, and find a small crowd of celebrating citizens, including Sarah, Digory and Hendrik, who will thank you for rescuing them. Gudrik will tell you to talk to the celebrating islanders if you wish, and asks you to follow him down to the harbor to the south when you're ready.

At the harbour, Gudrik will answer any questions you have, and will explain that Morwenna was a necromancer from the Fourth Age, and that she was raised from the dead by someone, and came after Gudrik because he disturbed her tomb on an adventure. When you're ready to leave the island, he'll tell you to get on the boat via the gangplank.

The boat will take the pair of you to Taverley, where you can talk to Gudrik again to finish the tutorial. He'll give new players an enchanted gem as a reward for their efforts, which allows them to talk to him, and becomes their mentor, and will advise then on what to do via the Paths system.

Rewards

 * Morwenna's headdress
 * Access to the Paths system

Personalities

 * Gudrik - a dwarf who guides the player through the tutorial.
 * Hendrik - a local fisherman.
 * Digory Popplewell - a very happy man and friend of Ned.
 * Ned Swarbrick - a grumpy man who claims that the Swarbrick family have been in Ashdale since the beginning.
 * Magda - the local mystic and seer.
 * Lucy - A villager whom you save during A Shadow over Ashdale
 * Quarry overseer - the overseer of the quarry.
 * Sarah - a young woman who seems to be familiar with the player.
 * Morwenna the Cruel - a zombie necromancer and the main antagonist of the tutorial.
 * Villager - The villagers around the island.
 * Cow - The island cattle.

Music
These songs are unlocked automatically and played during the tutorial, but they're not listed on the music player.


 * Newbie Melody (during the tutorial)
 * Creation (when you're creating your character)

Trivia

 * On day of release, a bug occurred where existing players could not enter Ashdale despite un-equipping all armour. This could be worked-around by summoning a Beast of Burden and then dismissing it.
 * Despite supposedly being the start of the player's adventure, Magda implies the tutorial to be set in the Sixth Age, after the Battle of Lumbridge and the events of all Fifth Age quests, which all players canonically participated in. This dialogue became only accessible after the tutorial with the release of A Shadow over Ashdale.
 * It previously did not show up on the World Map in Java due to technical constraints, although the "You are here" marker still appeared south-east of Sophanem when you were there, and the sea where it can be found is marked as a non-members area. It was visible on the map in HTML5. With the release of A Shadow over Ashdale, it was moved south of Oo'glog and became visible on the map.
 * Gudrik will give the player 3 minnows if they reach low health, but if the player attempts to eat them, they cannot and would receive the message "You should finish cooking your fish before eating them."