The Slug Menace

The Slug Menace is the second quest in the sea slug series, which involves the player investigating strange occurrences in Witchaven.

We Have A Mission For You...
Items: A commorb.

With a Commorb in your inventory, head to Falador Park and speak with Sir Tiffy Cashien to inquire about any jobs that he might have.
 * If you don't have your Commorb, Sir Tiffy Cashien will hand you a Commorb v2 (the upgraded version of the Commorb).

Along with his ramblings, he tells you about the village of Witchaven, which has had some rather strange goings-on recently. He tells you that since you have been instated into the Temple Knights, you are eligible for a new mission. He tells you to check in with the Temple Knights' local agent in Witchaven, Col. Jake O'Niall, with the password "In Falador, the geese fly backwards on Tuesday." Sir Tiffy also upgrades your Commorb to a Commorb v2.

Make your way to Witchaven.
 * A reasonably fast way to get to Witchaven is to teleport to Ardougne and then walk east to the coastal town of Witchaven.
 * Alternatively, you may use fairy ring code to the Legends' Guild and then take a short walk south.
 * The Ardougne cloak 1 teleport to the monastery gives you fairly close access as well.

Witchaven
Items: Commorb v2

Once in Witchaven, find Colonel Jake O'Niall rocking in a chair, on the dock, in the north-east corner of town. Talking to the retired member of the Temple Knights reveals that some of the villagers have started acting strangely since about three weeks, especially Mayor Eustace Hobb. He also tells you that some of them are in a dazed and confused state.

If you have not already, ask O'Niall who the important people are in Witchaven. He points you to Mayor Hobb, Brother Maledict and Holgart, the fisherman, who helped you during the Sea Slug quest. O'Niall also suggests that the others may also have some insight into what has been happening to their fellow-mates.

(Note: Make sure to finish talking to O'Naill about who to speak to, or they won't give you the right dialogue.)

Start off by talking to Mayor Hobb at his house. It is on the west side of town. Mayor Hobb tells you various things, one of which is about a certain shrine dedicated to Saradomin. As you start to leave the house, Savant stops you. She notes the mayor is acting a bit fishy and asks you to scan him. Inside the mayor's house, choose the scan option on the Commorb v2. She gets an odd reading - two life forms from the Mayor - but she is unsure what it means.

Next, head to the church — just south-east of the mayor — and speak with Brother Maledict. He tells you he is worried about his flock, who have begun to act a little bit strangely lately, emulating what O'Niall had told you.

Now, walk a little bit north by the shore, and talk to Holgart. He tells you that the mayor recently confiscated his boat and gave it to another man named Jeb. He also mentions that the Fishing Platform looks a mighty bit stranger and that you should go take a look.

Shrine of Saradomin
Items: Commorb v2, food and armour to survive a brief encounter with level 40 aggressive giant lobsters.

Report back to Col. Jake O'Niall, and tell him what you have found out so far. He suggests you take a good look at the shrine. Head to the western edge of the village — to the ruins — and climb down the old entrance to get into the Witchaven Dungeon, which houses the shrine.

Once you are in the dungeon, look to the minimap. On the east wall, look for a red section indicating a false wall. Choose the Push Wall option to open this section, and then enter the wall opening. You find yourself in a winding tunnel with aggressive giant lobsters that have been possessed by sea slugs.

Make your way through the tunnel — or save some time and climb through the Agility shortcut (requires an agility level of 30) — and head to the imposing doors blocking your way.

Warning: Do not try to open the doors or else a flash of light will spring from them, burning your hand for 50 life points.

Savant contacts you via the Commorb v2 to ask you to take a scan of the strange markings on the door. Choose the scan option on the Commorb v2. She says they look similar to some Saradomin glyphs she studied at the academy. She gives you a transcript of the runes to take to Jorral, who can translate them.

Before you go, grab the dead sea slug nearby. It will come in handy later. Savant contacts you about the slug you picked up and does a scan to analyse it.

Mahey'ish Medron
Items: Commorb v2, door transcription. (Optional, use the Ardougne lodestone) Ardougne Teleport for faster travel.

Travel to Jorral at the Outpost, which is north-west of West Ardougne and south of the Tree Gnome Stronghold. Talk to him about translations. Savant pops up in the Commorb v2 and coaches you on how to get Jorral to translate the message. Eventually, Jorral takes a look at the text and says it refers to a great battle between the temple of Saradomin and an evil creature called Mahey'ish Medron, or as she more commonly called, the Mother Mallum.

After Jorral is done, Savant contacts you again to catch you up on what she has learned about Mother Mallum. Head back to Witchaven, and check in with O'Niall. He suggests you speak with Brother Maledict to see if he knows anything about Mallum.

Approach the church's door, and you see a brief cutscene of the mayor leaving the chapel. When you enter the church, the priest is wobbling around, looking rather ill and acting strangely. Talk to him about what is behind the imposing doors you found and he tells you he has a book that has information on how to keep Mother Mallum trapped, but someone has stolen the three pages pertaining to the shrine's history and it is imperative you recover them immediately.

History Lesson
Items: Commorb v2, 5 empty inventory spaces, swamp paste, and a dead sea slug.


 * For the first page, enter the mayor's house and search his study desk to obtain the first page of Maledict's holy book.
 * Talk to Ezekial Lovecraft — the owner of Lovecraft's Tackle fishing shop south of the dock — to get the second page of the holy book.
 * To recover the last page, talk to O'Niall again. He too has the same nauseous look as the other villagers. He, strangely, does have the last page, which, unfortunately, has been ripped into three pieces.
 * Try to use swamp paste on any of Fragment 1, Fragment 2, or Fragment 3 to glue the page back together, but Savant stops you. The oily tar would ruin the ancient parchment, she warns. Instead, she advises, to make sticky glue from a rendered slug, and she mentions that it can only be done by someone who is renowned in seafood cooking.
 * Travel to the Fishing Platform by talking to Jeb, who is next to Holgart. Talk to Bailey in the small room on the south west corner of the platform. Hand him the dead slug you picked up earlier from the shrine, and in a few seconds, he gives you the sea slug glue you need. Finally, use the glue on the fragments, and a puzzle will pop up.

Note: If for whatever reason you have lost or dropped the dead sea slug, an infinite number spawn outside the door with the strange markings in the shrine. Be sure not to try to pick a live sea slug, however, because it will bite you, dealing 20-30 life points of damage.

Jigsaw
Move the three pieces of the page around using the controls over in the bottom-right corner of your screen:
 * 1) Use the arrows to move, rotate, and even flip over the fragments.
 * 2) Use the Show and Select buttons to choose which pieces to show and to move.

The easiest way to tell if you have got them all on the right side is that the correct side is lighter than the other. The image to the right gives you a general idea of how the fragments should fit together. The third piece may be out of view at the very bottom; select the third piece and click the up button several times to bring it in view.

When you put the pieces in their correct place, the puzzle fragments will close automatically, forming the last page.

Now talk to Jeb on the dock and have him take you back to Witchaven.

Imbuing
Items: Commorb v2, chisel, page 1, page 2, and page 3. 5+ rune essence or pure essence. An earth, water, fire, air and mind talisman, or their equivalent tiaras. Alternatively, a wicked hood can be used as the talismans, as well as holding 5 pure essence.

''It is possible to fail shaping an essence and break it. Be careful not to use a chisel on the essence or you get rune shards. It is also advised to shape your runes at each altar in case you fail to empower and break the blank rune.''

Right click and choose the shape option from the three pages to create a blank rune.
 * 1) Page 1 to shape a blank earth rune
 * 2) Page 1 to shape a blank air rune
 * 3) Page 2 to shape a blank fire rune
 * 4) Page 2 to shape a blank water rune
 * 5) Page 3 to shape a blank mind rune

Take each of the blank runes to its associated altar, and use it on their respective altar: the blank earth rune on the earth altar, and so on. Take caution as to not click on the altar, as your essence may be crafted into runes.

Once complete, your inventory should contain special misshapen counterparts of the elemental runes.

Conspiracy
Items: Bring melee equipment to fight a level 51 enemy, along with the commorb v2 and the 5 runes you created.

When ready, go back to the shrine and return to the imposing doors. Use each of the specially shaped runes you made on the doors to trigger a cutscene. You see that Mayor Hobb tricked you into opening the door so that Mother Mallum could escape. Following the cutscene, you must fight a level 51 slug prince. The prince is not difficult to kill, although you are unable to damage it with ranged or magic-based attacks; arrows and spells bounce right off of it.

After you kill the prince, you see another cutscene with Mother Mallum. She threatens to make you her new host, but Savant pops in via the Commorb v2 and teleports you safely to Falador Park. Talk to Sir Tiffy to be promoted to a Proselyte for your efforts.

'''Congratulations! Quest complete!'''

Rewards

 * 1 quest point
 * Promotion to Proselyte among the Temple Knights. This means you can buy and wear new Temple Knight armour with a greater Defence bonus than Initiate. You can buy each piece individually, or buy the armour pack which, when opened, gives you the plate, helm, and legs/skirt all at once. The pack is worth coins.
 * Promotion to Proselyte among the Temple Knights. This means you can buy and wear new Temple Knight armour with a greater Defence bonus than Initiate. You can buy each piece individually, or buy the armour pack which, when opened, gives you the plate, helm, and legs/skirt all at once. The pack is worth coins.
 * Promotion to Proselyte among the Temple Knights. This means you can buy and wear new Temple Knight armour with a greater Defence bonus than Initiate. You can buy each piece individually, or buy the armour pack which, when opened, gives you the plate, helm, and legs/skirt all at once. The pack is worth coins.
 * Promotion to Proselyte among the Temple Knights. This means you can buy and wear new Temple Knight armour with a greater Defence bonus than Initiate. You can buy each piece individually, or buy the armour pack which, when opened, gives you the plate, helm, and legs/skirt all at once. The pack is worth coins.



Music unlocked

 * Slug a Bug Ball

Required for completing
Completion of The Slug Menace is required for the following:
 * Kennith's Concerns
 * The Ritual of the Mahjarrat
 * Falador Tasks:
 * Hard: "A Knight in the Darkness"

Trivia

 * The quest is based very heavily on the story,  by, where a struggling fishing community makes a deal with creatures known only as "The Deep Ones" who in turn for ensuring the prosperity of the village, require people as sacrifices. They also produce horrible frog-featured offspring with the villagers that eventually become fully developed Deep Ones and return to the seas. These creatures were practically immortal, and worshiped two demigods known as Father Dagon and Mother Hydra. The shopkeeper in Witchaven, Ezekial Lovecraft, is a nod towards the author. If you talk to him, he notes he has a relative named Howard, which was H.P. Lovecraft's first name. He also says, when asked what he does, that the Lovecrafts have always been bait sellers or writers.
 * When talking to Jorral, Savant tells you to say you work for Petmel Books. This may also be a reference to the book "Shadow over Innsmouth".
 * At the end of the quest, when the player is about to be killed by Mother Mallum, they say "Savant, now would be a good time." This is a reference to Chekov's line in .
 * Colonel Jake O'Naill is a reference to Colonel, one of the main characters from the TV series . Another Stargate SG-1 reference is likely to be the sea slugs who are quite similar to the alien serpentine parasites known as the , who take over the body and mind of their hosts. Also, Stargate produced an episode based on "Shadow over Innsmouth", by H.P. Lovecraft.
 * During the first conversation a player has with Col. Jake O'Niall, he will say "Don't call me Sir. I work for a living." This is most likely a reference to , a film featuring Bill Murray, in which a sergeant says the same line to the protagonist.

Slug Menace The Slug Menace