Barrows

The Barrows minigame is an area-based combat minigame. It is popular due to the decent amounts of money players can make by selling Barrows equipment, a possible reward; and runes from the minigame, as the runes obtained are the most common drops. It involves defeating six powerful spirits, or seven after completing Ritual of the Mahjarrat, each with their own special strengths and weaknesses. Each brother has his own burial mound, except for Akrisae the Doomed, who shares a mound with Verac the Defiled.

History
The Barrows brothers were ancient warriors of Saradomin who established a reputation of near invincibility while fighting in the God Wars. They launched a massive attack to liberate Morytania from the clutches of Lord Lowerniel Vergidiyad Drakan and his vampyres, after he had established complete control over the continent as of the Fall of Hallowvale. As the brothers departed, a mysterious stranger, the Zarosian Mahjarrat Sliske, granted them superhuman power to battle Drakan's forces. It succeeded, for the brothers, who were in the front line, seemed invincible. They had not anticipated, however, that Sliske had ulterior motives for helping them.

As the brothers and their accompanying army progressed further into enemy territory in Morytania, Sliske followed them until the brothers became weakened. The brothers were grievously wounded in battle near the Great Vyrewall, and thus the army set up camp just west of Meiyerditch. Soon, the brothers died of their infectious wounds simultaneously in the army's camp. The army spent several days and nights holding off the attacking vampyres to construct burial mounds, the Barrows, to honour the fallen brothers. The army quickly retreated from Morytania, realising they could never succeed without their former leaders' prowess.

As the army began its return, Sliske cast a magical spell on the crypts, corrupting the bodies of the brothers, turning them into his newest wights, and binding them to guard a very powerful artefact. Sliske's ally Azzanadra had requested for this icon to be guarded before the latter's imprisonment in Jaldraocht Pyramid, so that it could later be used to re-establish contact with the banished Zaros. Sliske, instead of directly taking the Barrows Brothers, decided it would be fun to have them almost succeed in their goal before claiming them, a typical characteristic of the Mahjarrat.

In 169 of the Fifth Age, Azzanadra was released, and, with the help of an adventurer who manages to steal the Barrows Icon from the brothers, re-established communication with Zaros in time for the Mahjarrat Ritual of Rejuvenation. Shortly after said ritual, which the adventurer attends with several Temple Knight allies, Sliske attempted to claim them in a similar way. However, the Saradominist priest Akrisae Kolluym intercepted the spell, sacrificing himself and turning him into Akrisae the Doomed - the seventh wight. Akrisae joined the Barrows Brothers in their crypt, although, of course, he isn't a Barrows Brother himself.

A crumbling tome, obtained by searching the hut near the mounds or by talking to the Strange Old Man found digging the crypts, provides a detailed account of how the brothers came to be buried.

Graphical overhaul
After the release of the new website and interfaces on 22 November 2011, a screenshot was shown on the media page of a graphical update for the Barrows minigame. The January 2012 Behind the Scenes article confirmed that an update was coming to the minigame, which was introduced on the 4 January update.

The graphical update changed the looks of the area, added mist to the crypt, changed the Barrows brothers from purple ghosts to corporeal foes, and, for a week following the release, gave a 1 in 10 chance of doubling rewards. This extra reward chance ended on 11 January.

Objective
The objective of the Barrows minigame is to defeat the seven Barrows brothers: Ahrim the Blighted, Dharok the Wretched, Guthan the Infested, Karil the Tainted, Torag the Corrupted, Verac the Defiled and Akrisae the Doomed, though Akrisae is only available after Ritual of the Mahjarrat.

The Barrows brothers are very strong, each with very high defence. Each brother also has a different special ability, which is the same as the set effect of the corresponding armour set. Because of this, special consideration should be given to the methods with and order in which the brothers are eliminated.

Rewards
If the brother whose tomb was used to enter the tunnel is not killed yet, he will appear when the chest is looted.

The standard monsters in the tunnels may be killed to increase the chances of receiving rare, non-Barrows item; e.g. dragon helms. The threshold for increasing these chances appears to be 8 kills, with higher kill counts not contributing any further. Equipping a ring of wealth will increase the standard rewards; e.g. food and runes.

For every brother killed, there is a roll for the brother's item. This chance starts at 1/450 and decreases by 116 for every brother, capping at 1/44. Therefore, killing 4 brothers is required for the maximum chance per roll. Killing a brother will only add their items to the chest as a possible reward, so if a certain brother's items are undesired, he can be ignored without decreasing the chance for a desired item per roll (assuming at least 4 are killed); however, this would decrease the chance of obtaining an item overall. Killing additional brothers past 4 will not increase the odds per roll beyond 1/44; however, it will add an extra, independent roll, thus increasing the chance of obtaining any item. Each roll can produce any brother's equipment, and a brother can be rolled by multiple rolls. It is possible to obtain multiple pieces of Barrows equipment from a single chest, but it is not possible for those pieces to be the exact same item.

Killing all 6 of the original brothers is required to increase the beast tab kill count and thus also required to reap a soul when on an assignment.

Rise of the Six
Barrows: Rise of the Six is a sequel to the Barrows minigame. Unlike in the standard minigame, you have to fight 6 greatly buffed brothers at once with three other players. Due to the increased difficulty, the rewards are much better than the standard minigame. The same update also put the Barrows totem, an item required to play Barrows - Rise of the Six, making the regular Barrows more popular amongst players.

Music unlocked
The following music tracks are unlocked here:
 * Dance of the Undead - In the mound area
 * Dangerous Way - In the crypts and tunnels

Trivia

 * During the graphical update in January 2012, it was possible to get a draconic visage from the barrows chest, which only lasted a week.
 * Barrows is another word for a tumulus, which is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave, called a crypt in the minigame, or graves, which is probably where the name of the minigame comes from. Tumulus is Latin for "mound" or "small hill".
 * From 00:00 UTC 12 November 2011 to 23:59 UTC 14 November 2011, there was an event where players could gain double loot from several dungeons, including the Barrows minigame. This was part of Jagex's bot-busting celebration.
 * It is possible for a brother to spawn again when you kill the first one, then rush quickly to a door nearby. Killing the brother that popped up again however, will cause it to count as a creature instead.
 * If you attempt to enter with a familiar, you will be forced out with a message saying "You cannot enter this area with a familiar. You must leave this area and dismiss your familiar if you wish to enter."
 * If you use Surge or Escape to get into the mounds with a familiar, a message will say "You cannot enter this area with a familiar. You must leave this area and dismiss your familiar if you wish to enter. Your familiar is forced to leave as it cannot remain here." The familiar will be automatically dismissed, dropping everything it is carrying.

Barrows (minipeli) Barrows Barrows